


If We Go Down, Then We Go Down Together

by Hayes



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Humor, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Falling In Love, Plot Twists, Smut, Soulmates, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-17 23:25:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 67,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9351005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hayes/pseuds/Hayes
Summary: Lexa Woods works as part of a notorious criminal group known as Trikru. Their latest mission - to retrieve stolen riches from the wealthy business empire of the Griffins. Seems simple enough for a trained operative such as Lexa, but what she and her team would have never expected is for her to end up working as a bodyguard and following the orders of the one and only, Clarke Griffin.orBodyguard/ Enemies AUExpect danger, plot twists, and drama, with a hint of comedy.





	1. Traitors

**Author's Note:**

> Octavia and Bellamy aren't siblings in this for the sake of the story line  
> Updates will consistently be every few days

# 1\. Traitors

The rain was pouring heavily through the night when Damien Specter found himself in a pool of mud in the middle of nowhere, lying on his stomach, his eyes blindfolded, and both his hands and feet tied. He frantically twisted and turned trying to loosen the rope or at least the blindfold around his head but to no avail. He screamed as loud as he could for help, but all the response he received was a fit of laughter.  
"You can scream as loud as you can but nobody will hear you," he heard a male voice from someone who must be standing just in front of him.  
Damien frenziedly tilted his head up but the blindfold still blocked his view. "Who the fuck are you? You, coward son of a bitch!"  
Just after he finished his last sentence, he felt a kick to his face, making him wince in pain.  
"Don't you dare call me a 'coward'!", the stranger shouted at the man on the ground followed by a hard strike to the face once again.  
"Coward!"  
Damien felt a pair of hands grab him by the collar pulling him up on his feet. He braced himself for a punch, but instead, the stranger removed the blindfold revealing the face of his predator - a tall man known to be Lincoln.  
"You're dead," Lincoln quietly hissed at his prey.  
Damien looked into the pair of rage-filled eyes and felt his blood freeze. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a woman leaning her back on a black Honda Accord bearing no number plate, her features dulled by the darkness of the night and the pouring rain, but the knife she was playing with in her hands caught Damien's full attention.  
"W-What are you going to do with me?" he questioned.  
Lincoln flashed a sinister smirk then punched Damien hard in the stomach causing the older man to fall back to the ground. "I told you you're dead."  
"Why are you doing this to me?" Damien whimpered.  
"Ah, I can smell your fear."  
"S-Stop this!"  
"Did you stop when Calen Anders begged you not to rape her?!" Lincoln yelled at him followed by a stomp on his face.  
"The hell you care about what I did to that slut!"  
"Trikru cares," he replied firmly. "And we convict you to death."  
Damien choked, "Trikru?"  
"Lexa, finish him off." Without hesitation Lincoln turned and began walking back to the car.  
"I don't want this maniac's blood to stain my hands."  
Lexa sighed and slowly trailed towards Damien, her favorite knife clenched in her hand.  
"W-What are you going to do?" Damien snaked back in fear. "Stop there, you, bitch!"  
She tilted her head to the side mockingly and looked straight into his eyes. In her most emotionless voice, she said, "I'll see you in hell, Damien."  
With that, she slit his throat and dug the knife into his chest, just like the way he had killed Calen Anders.

\----------

Lexa Woods trailed quietly behind Lincoln as they fought their way through the huge crowd in Grounders. The club was packed as usual, meaning business was doing well. They made their way towards a door marked 'No Unauthorized Person Allowed' and were immediately met by a stern blonde woman.  
"Lincoln," she spoke, standing in front of the door.  
"Niylah," the man acknowledged.  
She turned to Lexa and nodded her head towards the typically silent woman, "You good, Lexa?"  
Lexa forced a smile but her face quickly returned to portraying a blank canvas.  
Niylah shook her head in defeat at trying to make the younger woman convey such an expression that would be beyond a straight face. Subsequently, she pushed the door open and let the pair in.  
"It's never too late to show some emotions, Lexa."  
The brunette simply brushed off the remark as she followed Lincoln down to a hidden passageway. Entering an elevator, Lincoln pushed the button labeled with an outline of the Trikru emblem. The elevator began to lower them down while the older man carelessly dropped his backpack and pulled his wet shirt off.  
"I need a shower," he announced while Lexa simply maintained a straight face as a reaction to his course of action.  
"Have you not learned the effects of your abs on Octavia?" she quietly asked.  
Lincoln wore a headstrong grin on his face. "I know what these abs do to girls, alright?"  
Lexa slowly shook her head in mock annoyance and eagerly exited the elevator, muttering, "Don't count me in."  
Lincoln chuckled at her comment and picked the backpack up, following Lexa into their secret headquarters where they were immediately welcomed back by Anya and Octavia.  
"How was your mission?" Octavia instantly asked.  
Lincoln handed the backpack over to her, smiling.  
"Half a million bucks neatly stolen from Tondc Bank. And, uh, we ran into some Mountain Men at noon. They're all dead."  
"And Specter?"  
Lincoln turned his head towards Lexa who reported, "Dead."  
Anya nodded, satisfied with the received answer.  
Suddenly, the door to the Command Room flung open and all eyes were directed to it. Two heavily built men threw out a beaten Echo. She held her stomach, lying helplessly on the ground. Octavia instinctively moved to help her friend but was quickly restrained by Lincoln.  
"I don't need a fucking traitor in this group." Gustus walked out of the room and stood between the two men holding Echo. He secured a cigarette in his mouth, lighting the end of it. The current Head of Trikru blew some smoke out of his mouth as he turned to look at everyone present inside the headquarters, then casted a hand towards Echo who was coughing up blood. "This, right here, is a very good example of a fucking traitor."  
Lincoln whispered to himself, "What the hell did she do?"  
"I'm sensing it's to do with Griffin," Anya quietly shared her hypothesis.  
"Who are we?" Gustus shouted at no one in particular.  
Everyone immediately replied in chorus, "Trikru."  
"And what is the code of Trikru?"  
"Fidelity to Trikru."  
Gustus glared down at the woman fighting for her life on the floor. "Fidelity… to… Trikru."  
"I-I'm sorry," the woman declared weakly.  
The older man sneered at her. "Apology doesn't bring back the dead, Echo. You know that."  
"They'll kill her," Octavia remorsefully muttered in realization.  
"Where's Octavia?" Gustus scanned the room restlessly until his eyes fell upon the young woman’s face. "Come here."  
Octavia, startled by the sudden command and all attention drawn to her, slowly walked towards the group leader, her eyes barely glancing towards her friend crippled on the floor. Gustus pulled out a gun, installed a silencer at the end of it, and handed it over to the brunette.  
"Kill her," he bluntly ordered.  
Octavia stared silently at the gun that lay in her hands. After a pause, Anya was the only one who bravely spoke up, "Octavia doesn't kill… she works in the Intelligence department."  
Gustus kept his gaze directed at Octavia while speaking, "I don't remember asking for your opinion, Anya."  
"Sorry," Anya mumbled and recoiled in her position.  
"Now kill him, Blake."  
Octavia swallowed hard before taking a deep breath and turning to face her friend. She shakily raised her hands and directed the end of the barrel towards Echo's chest. Silent tears fell from her eyes and her face tensed up. A sad smile crept onto Echo’s lips in acceptance as she looked into her friend's eyes for the last time.  
"Fidelity to Trikru," Octavia inaudibly whispered to herself. She hurriedly pulled the trigger before she could change her mind. The bullet quietly penetrated skin and plunged into Echo's heart. Then, she was dead. Octavia's first kill. In her entire life, she had killed no one but her friend.  
Gustus clapped his hands while he chuckled in amusement. "Very good, Octavia. And keep the gun. You might need it again in the future."  
The brunette silently dragged herself back to the others, holding a loose grip on the gun in her hand, while Gustus’ men carelessly hauled Echo's lifeless body away for disposal.  
"Octavia-," Anya rested a hand on the woman’s shoulder.  
"I killed her," she responded, staring blankly at the gun resting in her palm, tears falling like waterfalls on her face. "I killed Echo."  
Lexa did not bother to look at Octavia as she spoke, "You did what you had to do."  
Lincoln threw a glare at Lexa and looked to scold her, but was interrupted by Gustus.  
"Lexa."  
The woman turned towards the Head who summoned her to the Command Room and began walking without hesitation.

\----------

Raven Reyes sat nervously as she watched Clarke restlessly pace back and forth. They were watching the news and reports about the blonde's mother's unexpected escape from her kidnappers.  
_"Business tycoon, President and C.E.O. of Sky Corporation, Abigail Griffin, escaped from her captors earlier this evening. After a week of being held allegedly in exchange for ransom money of $500,000,000 by a still unidentified criminal group, Griffin is now safely in the hands of the proper authorities. After the life-threatening experience, the wealthy businesswoman, in an ambush interview, insisted that her private security group would keep herself and her daughter, Clarke Griffin, in a tighter security at this time-"_  
Clarke suddenly switched off the television with the remote. "I can't take this anymore," she breathed out.  
"Relax," Raven rushed to the side of her best friend and breathed along with her for comfort. "Just relax, Clarke. Breathe, breathe."  
"I want to see her now!" Clarke exclaimed in frustration.  
"Your mother will be here in no time," the brunette assured her as she gently rubbed her best friend's back.  
As if on cue, the door opened and a woman entered the room accompanied by no less than seven men in black suits. "Clarke?"  
"Mom!" Clarke ran to embrace her long lost mother. "Are you okay? What did they do to you? What did they want?"  
"I'm fine now," Abby smiled at her daughter. "Are you okay?"  
"I was so worried!" Her hold her mother tightened as tears threatened to spill. "You said you were going on a business trip, mom! I turned the TV on that same night and suddenly you were kidnapped! And where did that ransom come from anyway? I didn't receive any call or notice whatsoever from the kidnappers."  
"Forget about it," she said. "I'm back, so stop worrying now. Leave the worries up to me, honey, okay?" Clarke suddenly pulled back to look at her mother’s face.  
"Does that mean this isn't over yet?"  
She waited for an answer but Abby remained silent.  
"Are they still after you? Because if that's a yes, then I have everything to worry about, mom."  
Abby sighed and gently placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders as she looked straight into bright blue eyes. "Listen to me, Clarke. I may have done something really stupid in the past, but that's my problem, okay? It's not yours to worry about, honey. It was my fault that I got captured. But Kane and his men will keep us both safe."  
Clarke struggled to comprehend her mother’s words as the terror inside her only built at this revelation.  
"What did you do?" Her eyes gazed pleadingly for answers from.  
Abby shook her head in disapproval, reaching for her daughter's face and said, "I love you. All I need is for you to be safe. That's all I really want, Clarke."  
Clarke understood that her mother meant for the conversation to be over. All she could do was nod her head in agreement and pull her in for another embrace.

\----------

"So aren't you going to ask me about what happened out there?" Gustus sat at his table and inhaled the smoke from his cigarette deeply.  
"It's not my business," Lexa simply replied.  
Her answer received a chuckle. "That's what I like about you, Lexa. You're not as nosy as the others."  
"They care too much."  
"And you?"  
She shrugged, "I only care about Trikru."  
"Excellent." Gustus nodded his head, amazed at how well he had trained Lexa for such a way of life.  
"So why am I here?" she questioned. Feeling that her time was beginning to be wasted, she pulled out a cigarette for herself and waited for the continuation of this unexpected exchange.  
Gustus picked up three expensive darts from his table and threw them at a cork board on the wall. In a matter of a second, all darts landed on a picture of Abby Griffin with immense precision.  
"Have you ever met Abigail Griffin?"  
Lexa shook her head and slowly exhaled some smoke out of her mouth.  
"Perfect." Gustus grinned. "That way she has no idea that she's already looking into the eyes of an enemy."  
"So when do I kill her?"  
"No, Lexa. Don't be so eager. You are not to kill her… at least not yet." He paused to smoke again before proceeding. "What I want you and your team to worry about is the stolen treasure."  
Lexa managed to keep her usual straight face but curiosity began to burn her insides.  
"There is a treasure that used to belong to Trikru, a wealth more than you could ever imagine. Because I thought she was once a friend, I let that woman keep it, but she stole it away, and hid it somewhere. Certainly, the Council members are not amused by this choice of action."  
Gustus pushed a button on a nearby remote control, switching on the television screen for Lexa to see a recorded video of Abby Griffin being escorted into a black limousine.  
"You see, we managed to capture her with the plan of extracting the necessary information as to where she buried the treasure. We almost got her, Lexa… until that fucked up Echo helped her escape."  
Of course, it was only rational that Echo would help her former master. Abby Griffin used to be a member of the Council and Echo worked directly under her. Griffin used to hold great power within the confidential organization but not until she decided to steal the treasure. That made her a traitor, and Echo's loyalty made her a traitor too.  
"You want me to retrieve the stolen treasure," Lexa conclude.  
A sinister smile appeared on her Gustus' lips. "Exactly. And do everything you can, Lexa."  
"What about Griffin?"  
"You have a special mission to worry about already. Let the rest of us take care of her afterwards."  
That only meant that it's not her business anymore. So she simply nodded her head in agreement. That's how Trikru worked for her.

\----------

The following day, Clarke along with Raven dropped by at her mother's office at the Sky Tower. They were immediately met by her Abby’s secretary and were led into her office. The woman in an elegant coat and dress immediately acknowledged the arrival of Clarke and her brunette companion.  
"Mom, you asked for me?" she planted a quick kiss on his mother's cheek.  
Abby nodded her head, "Yes. I needed to talk to you about something."  
"What about?"  
"From now on, I have to know all of your whereabouts, Clarke."  
For a moment, the blonde was taken aback by the sudden demand from her mother.  
"I believe you are always well-informed about the events and appointments that I have to attend to, mom."  
"No. Not just charity events or photo shoots or interviews or public appearances or whatever. I mean everything, honey. I want to be informed about everything. I want to be informed when you leave the house, where you are off to, who you are with, what time you leave venues, and even when you’re at home."  
"But-"  
Abby hurriedly cut her off. "And no more sneaking out, please? I want to know as well when you go out with your friends or with… boys. They better behave, by the way."  
Clarke rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest as a sign of protest.  
"If you don't report to me, then I'll call Raven." She looked over to the girl standing next to Clarke. "Can I count on you, Raven?"  
Raven had no other choice but to nod her head as an approval to the coerced agreement, as much for Clarke's displeasure.  
"And one more thing," Abby raised a finger. "I'm hiring a personal bodyguard for you."  
"What?"  
Clarke's eyes widened in surprise while her best friend dropped her jaw on the floor.  
"I'm hiring a bodyguard just for you," the older woman simply repeated as she turned around to sit in her luxurious chair. "Kane will be by my side at all times so I need to hire 'another Kane' to watch over you 24/7."  
Raven gasped, "24/7?"  
"Yes," she casually nodded her head. "He will be directly accountable to me so don't even think about bribing him, Clarke."  
The blonde frowned, "Isn't it enough that I have to tell you about everywhere I go, mom?"  
"I'm just being careful here, honey."  
"No! You are being undemocratic."  
"Oh so now it's undemocratic when a mother wants to keep her daughter safe from any harm?"  
"That's not the point."  
"That's the only point here, Clarke."  
"I'm a 22-year-old grown woman but you're treating me like a child, by hiring somebody to watch over me 24/7."  
"I'm sorry that you're just too important to me that I want to keep you safe."  
"As long as you’re safe then I feel safe, mom. I don't need a dog trailing behind me all the time."  
_"Madam, your meeting will start in 5 minutes."_  
The secretary's voice echoed through the speaker. Clarke threw a 'we are not finished here' look towards her mother, but Abby Griffin ignored her daughter and instead instructed her secretary to escort her to the meeting immediately.  
"I'm still hiring you your own bodyguard, Clarke. End of discussion."  
Clarke gasped in frustration but her mother already rose from her seat in time for the secretary’s arrival. Abby gave the blonde a quick kiss on her head and made her way out of the room leaving her and Raven behind.


	2. Lovers

# 2\. Lovers

Clarke sauntered out of her walk-in closet wearing a white floral dress with ruffled-hems. She put a hand on her hip and flaunted the dress.  
"What do you think about this one, Raven?" the blonde asked her best friend who was seated on the bed absentmindedly flipping through the pages of an entertainment magazine.  
Raven spared a brief glance at the woman before returning her focus on the magazine.  
"I thought you're going out on a date. I didn't know Bellamy is taking you to a Hawaiian-themed '90s party."  
"You could have just said 'no', alright?" Clarke rolled her eyes. "And maybe you could get your ass off of that couch and come help me pick a dress? We've been doing this for one and a half hours already. I'm going to be late!"  
"Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you here." The brunette picked up another magazine and started to carelessly flip through the pages once again. "You need to find a dress that will make me engrossingly glue my eyes on you, like there's nothing else in this world except you. That's what you want your boyfriend to feel when he sees you."  
Clarke thought about it for a second. That's exactly what she wanted.  
"Please don't tell me you're wearing that." Raven dramatically ran her eyes on her best friend from head to toe with a scrutinizing look on her face when the blonde didn't move at all.  
"God, no." Clarke looked down at the dress she was wearing and grimaced at how awful she looked.  
"Then don't just stand there. Go, change, Clarke. Hurry up!"  
The other woman hurriedly went back to her walk-in closet and looked through every item of clothing she had, desperately trying to look for the perfect dress for her date.

\----------

Lexa, Lincoln, Octavia, and Anya had been sitting at a round table for the last few hours discussing where Abigail Griffin could have hidden the stolen treasure of Trikru. After long debate, all that was left was the Griffin Manor, the Sky Tower, the Sky Bank, and 'somewhere she knows we would never be able to think of'.  
"I don't think she would hide the treasure in her house - that would mean putting her daughter into danger," Lincoln rationalized as the rest of the team listened to him. "Griffin spends most of her time in the office but all that's left at night are regular security guards, and hiding it in the bank would mean too much risk. Even regular thieves would accidentally go after it."  
"Somewhere she knows we would never be able to think of," Anya read the option typed on her laptop screen which seemed to be the only plausible suggestion. "Wow. That sounds really specific and not hopeless… at all."  
Lincoln turned to Octavia, "Are you sure Echo never mentioned anything?"  
Octavia frowned at the mention of Echo's name; the memory of pointing a gun at the lifeless woman froze in her mind, a perpetual reminder that she killed her friend. But eventually, she shook her head in response.  
"Come on, Octavia. Any hint or tip-off or something… anything at all."  
Octavia shrugged her shoulders, "She was very loyal. She didn’t simply give out information to anyone about any of Griffin's plans. She looked up to Abigail Griffin like some kind of hero."  
Lincoln sighed heavily and sunk down into his seat. He shook his head in annoyance and then turned to Lexa whose only instance of speaking up was when she briefed the team on the special mission in one short sentence.  
"What do you say, Lexa?"  
"Echo was well aware of Griffin's plans," she answered, keeping a straight face. "She knew about stealing the treasure and betraying the Council."  
"But what if she didn't?" Octavia challenged as a defense on behalf of her dead friend. "What if she didn't know anything at all?"  
"Don't you find it suspicious that Echo stayed even after Griffin left the organization?" Lexa directed her sharp eyes on Octavia. "If she was so loyal to the woman, that she was more than willing to die for her, then why didn't she leave with Griffin? She could have saved herself from the conviction of death by escaping. You know Griffin would have taken her, but Echo stayed. I say they had a plan, they needed someone to protect Griffin from the inside; but it failed when Echo was caught by our men. Now they're moving on to Plan B."  
Anya nodded her head. "That makes sense."  
"But that doesn't give us anything about where the treasure is." Lincoln sat up straight before continuing. "Hypothetically speaking, let's say Echo knew everything – the betrayal and the location of the stolen treasure. Well, it doesn't matter now because she's dead."  
All three focused their gaze back on Octavia. Echo is dead, but her friend was still alive. Octavia could produce something out of nothing. The two talked about everything. Echo must have had dropped some hints during one of those conversations.  
"I'm sorry." Octavia, pressured by the looks she was receiving, desperately shook her head. "If Echo mentioned something about the stolen treasure, you know I would tell you, guys. But I really don't know. All she mentioned when we talked about Abigail Griffin was how brave the woman is. She said Griffin would never leave or run away. Even if Trikru would was on her trail, she would wait for us and fight back. And that's why Echo had to be as brave as her hero."  
Lincoln and Anya groaned at the blurred future of the special mission and slumped on their respective seats. Gustus wouldn’t be happy about this report, but Lexa kept her composure as suddenly she seemed to unlock something out of Octavia's testimonial.  
"Manor house," she proclaimed. "The stolen treasure is in her manor house."  
"What?" The other three turned their full attention to her.  
"She would never leave or run away," she repeated Octavia's words. "Everything she owns right now, she stole them from Trikru. Our members are scattered all around the world. It's not really that she's brave enough to stay, but she's got nowhere to run to. All that's left is the Griffin Manor. It's all she's has. Hence, it's the safest place she could ever be and the safest place to keep such a precious treasure. Besides, Griffin knew we would resort to somewhere else, somewhere really far from her, thinking she wouldn’t put her family into danger."  
"Really, Lexa?" Octavia looked surprised with the theory. "You got all of that from, like, one sentence?"  
The brunette simply stared back at her in response.  
Anya clapped her hands together in excitement. Finally, they were moving forward with the mission just when they were beginning to think it was a dead end street. Lincoln slowly nodded his head and favorably smiled at Lexa.  
"But we don't know exactly where in the manor," Octavia worriedly posed the new problem in question. "If I'm not mistaken, the treasure is worth $300,000,000,000. It could be scattered everywhere in the house for all we know. And how are we going to get inside in the first place? They've already tightened security. It's almost impossible to get in without getting caught."  
"Yeah, you stressed on the wrong word, Octavia," Anya pointed out, a smirk sitting on her lips. "It's _almost_ impossible. Just almost."

\----------

Raven looked through the car window and grimaced at the sight of a bar club.  
"Grounders?" she read the huge neon lights on the wall, spelling out the name of the establishment. "Edwin, are you sure this is it?" she questioned her chauffeur.  
"Yes, Miss Reyes," came the answer. "This is the place and the address given by Mr. Jacobs."  
Raven turned to her best friend who was sitting agitatedly next to her in the car, chewing on her lower lip. "I thought you two were going on a romantic dinner date under the stars?"  
"That was just my imagination," the blonde confessed and sighed heavily.  
The brunette scoffed. "You do realize that this is a bar club, right? Bellamy's taking you here for a 'romantic date'? I mean, it's named Grounders, for Christ's sake. Your mom will never approve of this."  
"Well, who cares if my mom approves or not?" Clarke grabbed her purse and started to move out of the car. She was still pissed by the sudden demands of her mother. "I'm going in."  
"Hey, this is not what we told her!"  
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her, Raven." The blonde flashed her best friend a mischievous look and marched towards the entrance of the club where Bellamy was already waiting in line with his friends.  
"Bellamy," she called out, excitedly throwing herself at her boyfriend, wrapping her hands around his neck.  
"Hey there, sexy." The brunette gave her an immodest kiss. Clarke chose to ignore the lingering taste of cigarettes on his breath. Instead, she forced a smile and waited for him to compliment her dress, to tell her she looked beautiful that night, to admit that he was happy to spend the time together, to have his eyes glued on her for the rest of the evening. But before she could even say another word Bellamy turned back to his friends as they continued their conversation about 'hot chicks', forgetting in an instant that his so-called girlfriend was standing right there next to him.

\----------

"I have mapped the entire house in my computer," Anya explained to her teammates. "But this is according to the latest files of Echo, any renovations made beyond this time frame are no longer exhibited in this map, so we have to be careful about the new security measures installed. We'll start searching for the treasure in Griffin's home office."  
"A vault," Octavia snapped, her eyes squinting as she tried to remember a very distant memory. "We need to look for a vault. The treasure must be there. I remember a drunk Echo saying she needed to guard Griffin’s vault."  
"Er, that sounds disturbing." Anya raised both her eyebrows and pursed her lips together.  
"Hold on." Lincoln turned to Anya. "We can't all go in there and execute the plan especially if we're going to do this during the daytime. It's too risky."  
"Why can't we do it at night again?" Lexa inquired one more time as she had been initially opposed to the idea.  
Octavia threw a glare at her. "The security is too tight at night. There’s no getting out alive, that is if we even manage to get in. As soon as Abigail Griffin leaves the house, that's when we go. Most of the security will be with her."  
"Then who's going to do it?" Lincoln asked patiently. The question here really was 'would it be Lincoln or Lexa?'. The other two were both in the Intelligence department, not trained to be in the field.  
After a pause, Anya and Octavia directed their eyes towards the quiet brunette who was currently lighting up a cigarette.  
"You’re small, Lexa." Anya explained apologetically, and Lincoln couldn't help but laugh at that. "It's an advantage when you don't want to get caught."  
Lexa simply rolled her eyes. "Yes, Lincoln, it's an advantage. I'd like to think it's because I'm so much better than you, if you don't mind."  
Lincoln simply gave her a smirk before happily standing up. "I guess we're done here. Now excuse me, I'm going to go party upstairs." He turned to Lexa. "You might want to get some rest, kiddo, for your job tomorrow."  
"I need some booze," the brunette contended, standing up, and walking past Lincoln towards the elevator.  
"Oh we're going?" Octavia hurriedly followed closely behind Lincoln, leaving a confused Anya in her seat. She turned towards the elevator and called out to her teammates, "Hey, what about me?"

\----------

Clarke impatiently sat by herself in a booth as she watched a girl she had labeled as 'the blonde slut in a micro skirt' flirt with her so-called boyfriend, who didn't seem to mind the attention. He seemed to be flirting back, whispering whatever he was whispering into the girl’s ear. Jealousy burned at Clarke’s insides. This was definitely not the date that she had in mind. She pictured it to be romantic or intimate, but Bellamy barely acknowledged her presence from time to time. Clarke knew she should have left the premise hours ago, but her stupid heart convinced her to stay, with the hope that her boyfriend might actually do something romantic for her.  
"Clarke."  
Finally, Bellamy had the decency to return to their booth with a glass of vodka in his hand. Of course, he didn't remember to bring his girlfriend a drink.  
"I want to go home," she told him but the loud music swallowed her words before it could even reach his ears.  
"What did you say?" he yelled out.  
"I want to go home," she repeated; this time the volume was loud enough.  
Bellamy placed the glass on the table and wrapped his arms around Clarke's back. He let out a heavy sigh then turned to Clarke. She knew that as an indication that she had pissed him off.  
"You said we were going to do something fun," she pointed out.  
"I am having fun."  
"Well, I'm not."  
"That's not my problem, Clarke."  
Her mouth dropped in disbelief.  
"What do you want me to do, Clarke?" he annoyingly asked her.  
"I just want you to start acting like my boyfriend if that's not too much of a bother for you," she furiously answered.  
"You want to have fun?" he smirked at her, and she calmly nodded her head. "Then we can do something fun. Here, have a drink."  
Bellamy reached for the alcohol on the table and handed it over to her. Clarke hesitated but eventually downed the drink. At least, her boyfriend was finally paying her some attention. She didn't have the time to lean back when Bellamy suddenly pulled her face towards him and crashed his lips into hers, kissing her aggressively.  
Clarke pulled away causing displeasure on Bellamy's face. "I need more drink," she said briefly kissing him on the lips once again before rushing to the bar to order as much alcohol as she needed for the evening.

\----------

Lexa closed the cubicle door, pushing Costia up against it. She wasted no time kissing on the tall girl's neck as she held a grip on her waist. Lexa pushed her thigh into Costia causing her to moan in pleasure.  
"The fact that we're doing this in a public bathroom makes it all the more hot." Costia bucked her hips against Lexa, while the other woman simply ignored the comment.  
Lexa yanked her partner's blouse off revealing breasts sitting prettily on Costia's black bra. The smaller woman reached to unhook it with one hand and proceeded with trailing kisses on Costia's shoulder, then on her collarbone until she reached the valley between her breasts. She sucked one in her mouth while massaging the other, kneading it and molding it to her liking.  
"That feels really good, Lexa." Costia bit her lower lip as Lexa started to lick her hard nipples. "Someone's eager tonight."  
"I might die tomorrow," Lexa gasped in response. "I just want to fuck you tonight."  
Costia pulled away and shot her a frown, "Does that mean this is the last time you're going to fuck me?"  
"Maybe," Lexa absentmindedly replied before going back to her work. She pulled Costia's shorts down and was surprised to see that the dark-haired woman wasn't wearing anything underneath.  
She simply shrugged, "It comes in handy."  
Lexa brushed her off as she caressingly rubbed her causing Costia to moan. She was wet enough that Lexa simply slid two fingers inside the tall woman, shutting her eyes and quivering as Lexa's fingers danced inside her. Costia groaned in pleasure and held Lexa's head in place as the woman continued to work and trail kisses on her breasts again.  
"I want your tongue," Costia ordered and pushed Lexa down who automatically dropped on her knees, spreading Costia's legs further apart, then giving her one long gentle lick.  
"Fuck." Costia's head fell back against the wall. She lifted a leg and rested it on Lexa's shoulder, suddenly blurting out, "I love you, Lexa."  
The woman on her knees stopped and immediately stood up pushing the leg on her shoulder off and looking into Costia's lustful eyes.  
"Something wrong?" the dark-haired woman panted.  
Lexa shook her head and said in her usual blank expression, "I just want to get this over with."  
"But-" Costia would have protested but then Lexa plunged one, two, three fingers into her and her eyes involuntarily rolled to the back of her head as she groaned loudly, not caring if anybody would hear them. Lexa buried her head on Costia's chest as she thrust into her faster and harder each time causing the tall woman to scream in ecstasy and her leg to twitch elatedly around Lexa's hips. Just as soon as Costia reached her climax, the cubicle wall broke with all their weight pushed against it causing them both to fall on the floor with Lexa on top of a half-naked Costia.  
"Well that was quite the show," Anya quietly muttered to herself as she stood looking down at the pair awkwardly. "But Gustus will surely be angry when he finds out about the broken wall."  
"Anya!" Costia exclaimed and frantically covered herself. "How long have you been there?"  
"I was trying to pee when you two decided to fuck here," she bluntly replied.  
Ignoring the two other women, Lexa pushed herself up and walked to the sink to clean herself up without even thinking of helping Costia get back on her feet who frowned at the coldness shown by the smaller woman. Lexa fixed herself up without a word as if nothing had happened, pulling out a cigarette from her pocket as she headed towards the door.  
Anya averted her eyes from the door towards Costia who was trying to pull herself together before anybody else entered the restroom.  
"And then she left the slut," narrated the brunette, sheepishly looking at Costia. "I'm sorry, but she's just never going to love you back, sweetie."

\----------

The next day, Clarke woke up with an aching head. She felt exhausted from all the dancing, drinking, and making out from the previous night. With her eyes still shut, she shifted her body towards her bedside table to check the time, but clumsily fell down onto the floor. Her eyes shot wide open when she finally realized she wasn't in her bedroom. Shit, she thought. She never managed to get home last night. Bellamy had simply left her there. This was bad. Very bad considering if her mother knew about it. She started gathering her things and hurriedly searched for her way out of Grounders.

\----------

"Are you ready?" Lincoln asked as he sipped a cup of coffee.  
Lexa put her black leather jacket on and shook her wavy hair into place. She fished a pancake from the plate on the table and carelessly put it into her mouth as she replied, "Whether or not, let's fucking do this."  
"Fuck," Anya purposely coughed out receiving a glare from the brunette's end. Anya hurriedly turned her eyes back to her laptop screen. "Yeah, I'll shut up now."  
Octavia sat in her seat uncomfortably while Lincoln started laughing.  
"I've certainly heard about the broken wall."  
"Can we all please concentrate on the mission now?" the brunette chose to brush the issue aside.  
"Here." Octavia handed a set of spy communication devices over to Lexa who quickly placed the earpiece in her left ear and the microphone strategically on her jacket. "I attached a tracker on your earpiece so we can track you on Anya's laptop. We'll direct you as you go around the manor."  
Lexa bent down to slide her pocket knife and a small flashlight into her boots, just in case.  
"Keys," Lincoln threw the car keys towards Lexa, who casually caught them with one hand. Grabbing another pancake she headed towards the elevator. "Good luck, kiddo."

\----------

Clarke pushed herself out of the door, glad to finally see some light. She looked around for a cab as she impatiently waited for her best friend to answer her call. "Raven!" she shrieked when the brunette finally answered.  
"Where are you?" Raven quietly hissed from the other end of the line. "I'm at your house and you're not in your room, Clarke! Tell me you did go home last night."  
"Um," Clarke nervously bit her lower lip. "I'm still at the club."  
Raven's furious voice blasted out of the speaker, "You have to come home now, Clarke! I told you, that Grounders shit is an awful idea. You're lucky enough that your mother hasn't insisted on checking on you yet, I told him you're still sleeping. Come home now, please? I don't know if I can keep up the lie to your mom."  
Clarke felt panic wash over her. "Just cover for me, Raven. I'm coming home, I swear."  
The blonde removed her high heels and held them in her hands, her feet aching badly. She kept the phone in between her cheek and her shoulder but her mind wasn't even listening to Raven's lecture anymore. She just really wanted to get home, and fast. She abruptly stepped off the sidewalk to cross the street, unmindful of the car fast approaching towards her. It was only when a loud noise blasted into her hungover state that she realized the danger coming towards her, but instead of getting her ass off of the road, she simply froze in place, shutting her eyes firmly, bracing for the collision. She didn't even hear the loud screech of the wheels against the road, but after what seemed like a lifetime, she opened her eyes to see her trembling knees just inches away from the bumper of a shiny gray-colored Aston Martin Volante and her phone lying next to her feet. She let out the deep breath she had held for eternity.  
"I'm still in one piece," she quietly muttered to herself.  
The driver blew on the horn once again prompting Clarke to look up and meet a pair of deep green eyes indifferently staring up at her.


	3. Strangers

# 3\. Strangers

Lexa sat silently in her seat and simply focused on driving down the road while the blonde seated at the passenger side loudly talked to her best friend on the other end of the phone. The driver let out a deep sigh as she patiently waited for the noise to end.  
"I'm fine, Raven. Somebody's driving me home." Clarke took a quick glance at the awkwardly silent stranger as she absentmindedly listened to her best friend's rants against the phone. "Okay. Uh-huh. Just keep your cool."  
Beginning to get irritated, Lexa intentionally cleared her throat implying her discomfort, and a fit of laughter blasted through the earpiece sitting in her left ear.  
_"You could use some noise once in a while, Lexa."_  
She heard through the earpiece, causing her to roll her eyes in annoyance. She had a mission to accomplish with the consideration of the probability of her death that very same day, but suddenly, she had this too loud of a stupid person that she had to be worried about too.  
"Wait for me at the front gate, okay? Bye." Clarke made the last instruction to her best friend before hanging up the phone, and then sheepishly leaned back into her seat. "Turn left when you get to the intersection, please?"  
_"Nice, you're just on the right track. Turn left at the intersection indeed."_  
Lexa merely obeyed the orders she was getting.  
Clarke turned towards the brunette and smiled pleasantly at her. "You have a very nice car, by the way."  
But the driver simply ignored the friendly remark.  
"I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself," the blonde made another attempt at striking up a conversation. "I'm Clarke, and you are?"  
_"Ooh. She wants to talk."_  
Again, Lexa ignored the Anya and the blonde sitting in the passenger seat.  
"Would you like to listen to some music?" asked Clarke, and reached to turn the radio on, but Lexa quickly turned it off without stating any reason. The blonde immediately shot her a look. But the other simply ignored the glare she was receiving.  
"They install a radio in cars for a reason," Clarke argued.  
Instead of even considering it, Lexa carelessly hit the audio system until the materials cracked. She pulled the unit out, cutting off the wirings, and then threw it out of the window.  
"Why would you do that?" the lost blonde yelled at the stranger with a bad temper.  
_"What did you just do, Lexa?"_  
"I just really needed to hear something else," Clarke reasoned out. "You won't talk to me so I figured the radio would keep me sane. I can't stand the silent treatment, you know."  
Still, the driver kept her mouth shut as if she didn't hear a thing.  
"Fine." The woman leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "If you don't want to talk then I'll talk, and I won't stop talking until you talk to me."  
_"Uh oh."_  
"You know, I just had the worst night in my entire life. I spent three hours getting ready for what I thought would be the most romantic date with my boyfriend, but it turned out to be hell. He let me sit all by myself in the booth while he went around flirting with every girl in the bar except me, his girlfriend. Do you know how infuriating that feels? It feels like he doesn't even care about me at all. All I really wanted was to spend some quality time with him, but what did he do? God, he got me drunk! Now I have this terrible headache, and-"  
"Stop." Lexa ordered in complete irritation. She couldn't tolerate the madness anymore. She abruptly pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned towards the blonde. "Would you shut the fuck up?"  
_"Okay, that was really harsh, Lexa."_  
At first, Clarke nervously moved back from the angry stranger but after a minute, a playful smirk suddenly crept out of her lips. "See? It's not that difficult to talk, you know."  
_"She’s got you there."_  
The brunette shook her head in disbelief. This girl right here was killing her and definitely not in a good way. She's utterly beyond annoying, completely nosy, and too chatty for her type. Lexa hated all that. So she reached to the opposite side and opened the door for the confused blonde.  
"Get out," she stated.  
"What?"  
"I said, 'get out'."  
_"You're seriously going to do that?"_  
"Shut up," Lexa directed at Anya.  
"I wasn't even talking," she complained.  
"Just get the fuck out of my car."  
"You said 'fuck' twice already."  
"I don't care. I just want you to get out."  
Clarke scoffed at the stranger's rudeness. Instead of obeying the order, she pulled the door back to a close and stubbornly leaned back, holding on to her seat firmly as if the driver would take it away from her.  
"I am _not_ getting out of here."  
Lexa shot her a death glare which normally would be powerful enough to scare off anybody, but surprisingly, this woman simply brushed it off.  
"Get out!" she shouted once more.  
"You're driving me home, remember?"  
"And why would I do that?"  
"Because you almost hit me with your gorgeously expensive car."  
"It's not my fault that you were being such an idiot back there."  
"Says the person who almost killed me."  
"But you're alive right now, aren’t you?"  
"You're still driving me home. End of discussion." Clarke stared at Lexa whose eyes burned with anger.  
_"Ooh she got you big time,"_ Anya's chuckles were heard through the earpiece.  
"You're not going to back down, are you?" Ignoring the sound from her earpiece, Lexa gritted her teeth and clenched her hands on the steering wheel.  
"Nope," Clarke declared giving a firm headshake.  
The driver furiously leaned back into her seat and sighed heavily in defeat. She swore she hated this girl already. Left with no other choice, she drove the car back onto the road and figured she would just drop this devil off wherever she lives and be gone from her life forever.  
"Where exactly do you live?" she tried to hide the eagerness to get away from the stranger.  
"Arkadia."  
_"Arkadia! That's where you're going too, Lexa. Would you look at that? It's destiny. Aww."_  
Lexa gritted her teeth once again in great disappointment. The blonde should really be thankful that she was going the same way or else, the brunette could have easily thrown her out of the car.  
"Shut up," the brunette directed the demand to both Anya and Clarke who was now humming, but much to her discontent, both happily ignored her.

\----------

"Wait! Wait!" Clarke exclaimed as they approached the gate to the subdivision. "You can drop me off here."  
The blonde couldn't afford to let any of their house guards see her get out of an Aston Martin convertible at this time of day when she's supposed to be in her bedroom.  
_"Good. We can't let anybody see your car enter the subdivision."_  
What Clarke didn't know was that the arrangement would work for Lexa as well.  
"For the last time, what's your name?" the woman curiously asked the other seated in the driver seat who started ignoring her once again. "Come on, I just want to know."  
_"Just tell her your name. It's not like you two are going to meet again anyway."_  
But Lexa simply muttered, "Just get out."  
Clarke rolled her eyes at how stubborn the stranger really was. "Fine. But even though you were incredibly rude and eerily quiet this whole time, I just want to say thank you for giving me a ride."  
The driver idly nodded her head without even bothering to give the girl one last look.  
The blonde shook her head in utter disbelief at how the brunette had been behaving, grabbed her purse and got out of the car. As soon as the door shut, the stranger hurriedly stepped on the accelerator and drove away.

\----------

After some time, Lexa found herself hiding behind a tree, keeping a watchful eye on the tall wall separating the Griffin Manor from the outside world.  
_"My time reads 8am sharp. Griffin must have left the manor 10 minutes ago. You can go in, Lexa."_  
"What exactly is behind the wall?" she asked.  
_"According to the map it's just a backyard garden with plants all over the edge. You also have a swimming pool right in the middle."_  
"Do you think there might be some guards posted here?"  
_"I really can't tell, Lexa. I'm sorry. But I can help you with the CCTV cameras. Octavia managed to hack the system. We can manipulate them for some time so you can move."_  
Lexa sighed.  
"Just give me the signal."  
After a short while, Anya instructed her to go. Checking her surroundings, Lexa began running towards the wall as fast as she could and pushed herself up with a stomp, hanging on to the wall until she managed to cross the border. Landing on her feet, she immediately rushed into the bushes when she caught a glimpse of a group of approaching maids.  
_"Lexa, are you okay?"_  
"I'm in," the brunette quietly panted.  
_"Alright, there are cameras in every door. Listen to me when I tell you to stop. We can't manipulate all the cameras at the same time because that would be too obvious."_  
"So what should I do now?"  
_"There's a porch by the east side of the pool. You'll see a back door to the house, you can enter there."_  
Again, she looked around and waited for a sign of anyone or anything approaching. She quietly ran towards the porch, keeping her body low, and entered the building. Her eyes widened when she saw the open hallway in front of her and the sight of no less than 6 guards casually roaming around. She hurriedly looked for an empty room which she could hide in for the meantime. This was going to be a tougher job than she originally thought.

\----------

"You should have called me last night. I would have come to pick you up!" Raven scolded her best friend as they ascended the grand staircase.  
"I told you I was too angry at Bellamy and too drunk to do that," defended the blonde.  
The brunette shook her head in disapproval. "If your mother finds out about this, you're dead. We're both dead, Clarke."  
"Just relax," the other grinned at her confidently. "I'm here now, and my mom will never find out about last night."  
Raven sighed heavily at the statement. They continued to walk down the hallway as they make their way to Clarke's bedroom when suddenly they were stopped by no other than Abby Griffin herself. The two girls' faces turned pale in no time. The older woman gave the pair a displeased look.  
"Mom," Clarke forced an innocent smile on her face, and then kissed her cheek. "Good morning. Y-You're still here? I-I thought you left for work already."  
"And I suspected you weren’t at home," Abby shot back. "You just got here?"  
Raven buried her face lamentably in her palm realizing they were already doomed, but her best friend would not give up yet. She casually shrugged her shoulders and said, "I've practically been here the whole time, mom."  
Abby sighed and asked her head security, Kane, for a brown envelope. She pulled out some pictures and showed it to her daughter. They were pictures of Bellamy and Clarke from the previous night outside and inside the club.  
"You really thought I wouldn’t find out about this, Clarke?"  
"Where did you get these?" Clarke snatched the pictures from her mother before flashing a glare at her. "Did you hire somebody to stalk me?"  
Her mother suddenly became quiet as she took the pictures back and handed them to Kane with the instruction to burn them.  
"I can't believe you did this, mom."  
"I can't believe you just lied to me, Clarke." Then for a brief moment, Abby threw a glance at the brunette standing behind her daughter, "And I'm very disappointed in you, Raven."  
The girl lowered her head and muttered a quiet apology.  
"Leave Raven out of this," the blonde shot a furious look at her mother. "Why would you do this? Don't you trust me?"  
"I trust you, alright. But not when you act like this. I told you to inform me about all of your whereabouts, but you sneaked out again. Perhaps, we can say this was a test and you failed, honey."  
"What test?"  
"You said you don't need a bodyguard and I've considered the idea. I was so close to granting the request until this happened."  
"I don't need a bodyguard, mom," the blonde firmly stated.  
"I gave you a chance to prove that, Clarke."  
Kane suddenly interrupted the argument. "Madam, they're here."  
Abby nodded her head then turned to Clarke once again. "Get yourself ready. I'll be signing some papers in my office first, and then I'll meet you in the receiving room."  
Raven nudged her best friend, but still, the blonde did not respond.  
"Are we clear, Clarke?" her mother's voice was laced with authority.  
"Yes, mom,"she quietly answered before walking past her mother and her bodyguards with Raven following closely behind.  
"And Clarke?" she called out, stopping the two in their tracks. "Please don't ever go back to that club ever again. It's for your own good."  
The blonde reluctantly nodded her head before proceeding to her bedroom.

\----------

Lexa peeked through the small gap in between the edge of the door and the wall allowing a small amount of light to enter the dark room. She strained her eyes to scan through the hallway and observed that a guard would pass by every two minutes.  
"There are fucking guards everywhere," she whispered to the hidden microphone on her jacket. "It's impossible to fucking get out of here."  
Suddenly, a maid was fast approaching.  
"Shit."  
_"What?"_  
Lexa didn't even have the time to think about where to hide. She simply held her breath and hid right behind the door as it opened, blocking her from the view of the maid as well as from the camera. The light was switched on and somehow blinded her eyes but gave her the opportunity to examine the room. It was a storage room for cleaning materials and other household objects, neatly arranged in the two shelves standing on the opposite sides. She looked up and noticed a grill on the ceiling right in the middle. But her examination was cut short when she saw the hand of the maid reach out for the vacuum cleaner just across from her. After that, the light was switched off and the door was closed leaving the storage room in complete darkness once again.  
_"Lexa?"_ Anya hesitantly asked, her voice blended with worry.  
Lexa whispered, "Still alive."  
_"Thank goodness."_  
"How far am I from the office?"  
_"It's on the other side of the house, second floor."_  
She sighed heavily. "Fuck this shit. Freeze the camera."  
_"What are you going to do?"_  
She reached for the flashlight from her left boot, switched it on, and secured it between her teeth. She held onto a shelf near her and started climbing up as quietly as possible.  
_"Lexa?"_  
Ignoring the earpiece, the brunette paid all her attention to her current action.  
_"Lexa! Answer up!"_  
This time, it was Lincoln's voice that she heard.  
"I'm fine, Lincoln," Lexa finally answered and a sigh of relief was heard. "I can't get out through the door and I definitely can't stay in this room forever, so I'm resorting to the vent. I'm small enough, right? I think it can handle my weight."  
_"Those two pancakes you ate this morning will surely drag you down."_ And Anya was back.  
Lexa reached for the grill with her pocket knife to unscrew one side then quietly yanked it off, climbed up the edge, and struggled to pull herself up into the vent. She just fitted in with her stature. She guessed being small really does have its advantages.

\----------

Clarke collapsed onto her bed, tired from the previous night, from bickering with the weird stranger who almost ran her over, and from the constant nagging her mother provided. Not to mention the earful she was getting from Raven. Nobody asked but yes, she was had a hangover as well.  
"See? I told you this would happen! I told you, didn't I?" Raven frantically paced back and forth. "Did you see the look she gave me? She's disappointed in me, Clarke. I failed your mother. She gave me this one single task to do and I still failed her."  
The blonde reached for a pillow to cover her ears, but her best friend jumped onto the bed and pulled it away.  
"No, Clarke. You're going to listen to me this time around. Then you're going to the bathroom and taking a shower. God, you smell like shit." The brunette scowled as she sniffed the girl's clothing. "Now don't keep your mother waiting, get your ass off the bed and go get cleaned up."  
Her best friend threw a quick look before burying her head back into the mattress.  
"Just go take a shower," Raven repeated the command.  
"God, you sound like that creepy stranger."  
"What creepy stranger?" the blonde confusingly looked down at the girl lying on the bed. When she did not respond, she hastily shook her up to prevent her from dozing off. "Clarke! Don't sleep now!"  
The blonde simply groaned at her.  
"Come on, stand up." Raven tried to pull her up, but Clarke only collapsed back to bed. "You know, you're lucky enough that she didn't ground you for life."  
Clarke muttered in response, "She can't ground me. I'm 23 years old, for Christ's sake."  
The brunette rolled her eyes at her best friend's remarks. She's a 23 years old who demands to be treated like a 40-year-old adult but acts like a 12-year-old child. Yep, that's her best friend in the whole wide world. That's the one and only Clarke Griffin.  
"Just get your shit together and move, Clarke."  
"You said 'shit' twice already. Would you please stop talking like the stranger? She's starting to get on my nerves and she's not even here right now."  
Raven's face curled up in confusion. "Who is this creepy stranger you've been talking about exactly? I'm starting to wonder whatever happened last night in that Pandemonium place. Get up and spill."  
"You're not going to trick me into getting up, Reyes."  
"I swear, Griffin, if you don't get up now, I'm going home.”  
The blonde ignored the comment and hugged the pillow lying close to her. True enough, the other shook her head in surrender and started to head for the door.  
"Call me when you're ready to talk, will 'ya? And please take a shower."

\----------

Lexa quietly crawled through the vent of the second floor. It wasn't the most convenient position she had ever been in, but it was far more convenient than feeding herself to the packs of security guards posted all over the house. So she patiently wiped off the beads of sweat all over her face.  
_"This is too quiet. It's getting pretty boring."_  
"Well, my life is kind of at stake here."  
_"I miss your chick."_  
"What?"  
_"I don't mean Costia, alright? I would have said 'your fuck buddy' if I meant her."_  
Lexa shook her head at such nonsense.  
_"Don't you miss her?"_  
She chose to ignore the question as she struggled to keep quiet with her entire body in constant contact with the noise-producing material.  
_"Lexa!"_  
"What?" she hissed at the microphone.  
_"I asked if you miss her."_  
"Who the fuck are we talking about?"  
_"The chatty stranger you almost ran over. I liked it when she forced you to talk because nobody has ever done that, you know. We're all surprise that you didn't kill her actually, like, literally kill her."_  
But the brunette wasn't even listening to her earpiece anymore, instead choosing to focus her mind on the current situation.  
_"Stop! The office is right below you!"_  
Finally, Lexa thought. She crawled towards the nearest grill and looked down, allowing herself to inspect the room first. She realised something was off when she saw a group of men in black suits taking a coffee break. One suddenly looked up to her direction as she reflexively moved back.  
"Give me a hand," she heard a husky voice say. "I think I saw something up there."  
"Shit." In the quietest manner possible, she hurriedly moved to search for another grill. "Freeze the cameras, I'm going down."  
_"Freezing the cameras."_  
Lexa forced the nearest grill leading to a library open, carefully lowering herself out of the vent. She didn't care if somebody was in there. It was easier to run and dodge bullets on the ground, whereas they could easily kill her in the vent.  
_"Are you okay?"_  
She quietly jumped off a shelf and started to walk around, careful not to get caught. "Yes."  
"Right now you are at what is supposedly the library. It's supposed to be adjacent to the office."  
"I'm in the library, okay? But that wasn't the office, Anya," she hissed at the hidden device. "That was a freaking lounge for the fucking security guards!"  
_"Wow. Griffin turned her office into a trap. Anybody who would walk into the room thinking it was the office would surely meet their doomsday in a second."_  
Lexa let out a frustrated sigh, " I can't go back up the vent at the moment. I have a pack of wolves in the next room."  
_"You need to go to the third floor, west wing. Octavia says the most rational place to transfer the office would be right next to Griffin's room. That way her guards are securing two important rooms at night at the same time."_  
"Freeze the cameras in the hallway then. This time I'm climbing up through the elevator."  
_"Freezing."_  
Lexa took a peek at the hallway. The coast was clear, so she pulled the door open and walked out.  
"Excuse me, Miss?"  
She froze in place upon hearing someone calling out from behind. Apparently, the coast wasn't as clear as she thought. The sound was at least a modest female voice so she assumed it's not one of the guards.  
_"Who was that?"_  
Lexa slowly turned around to face the person who turned out to be a maid.  
"Can I help you?" asked the maid.  
_Yeah, if you could just leave me alone_ , she thought.  
"Oh you must be one of those men in black suits," the maid nodded her head in recognition, eyeing Lexa's black shirt, black leather jacket, black pants, and black boots. "I bet you were a bit lost in here. It's a pretty big house, I still get lost sometimes too." She let out a quick laugh. "Here, I'll direct you back to the receiving room." The maid led the way and Lexa, though still a little shaken, had no other choice but to follow. "I heard Madam Griffin is on her way to meet you."  
Oh she's dead; she's really dead this time.  
"Madam. Griffin? Abigail Griffin? She's in the house?"  
A sense of terror rushed through Anya's voice, but Lexa couldn't respond to confirm the news. That would explain the number of guards and the tight security in the house the whole time.  
_"Abort mission. Abort. Lincoln's on his way with the backup. Just stay put, Lexa. I repeat, abort mission."_  
Still, Lexa couldn't respond. It would be too obvious if she started talking along the silent journey to the receiving room. She figured she would play the game with the maid, for as long as everybody presumed that she's one of the 'men in black suits' she's still safe.  
The maid directed her down many turns of the hallways while she listened to Anya's anxious breathing until they finally reached the receiving room. She was asked to stand in line at the door next to a tall man in a black suit. The man shot her a questioning look, but she stared back just as tough as if his height and size were a threat to her at all.  
The door suddenly opened revealing a good-looking man with dark hair and again in a black suit. With a subtle smile, he commanded, "Come in."  
Lexa had no choice but to follow in. Though she could, she shouldn't start a riot that very moment. It would inevitably end in disaster.  
Scanning the room, there were five men in black suits stood in a line. Lexa stayed as calm as possible as she followed the horizontal line formation and stopped next to the same man in a black suit. Then, she came face to face with the eyes of her enemy, Abigail Griffin. She mentally scoffed at the woman for being so ignorant to the presence of an enemy in herself. She could easily kill her in this second.  
"You?"  
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by that familiarly annoying voice now laced with surprise and utter shock. She shifted her eyes away from the older woman to the blonde sitting next to Abigail Griffin. Lexa matched the same level of disbelief, when she met those bright blue eyes she had sworn she would never see again.


	4. Guards

# 4\. Guards

Everybody turned, surprised at Clarke's sudden reaction to the presence of the men whose one of them would potentially be her future personal bodyguard. Lexa took this opportunity to swiftly pull herself together and flashed her usual straight face.  
"You okay, honey?" Abby questioned her daughter, a little worried.  
"Y-Yeah," the younger Griffin stuttered along with a small nod of her head and forced a smile on her face. "Um, I-I mean… I choose her, mom."  
"What?"  
Confused by the usage of the pronoun, Abby turned to face the men lined up in front of her, as did Kane and the rest of the security group. Indeed, the sixth member of the finalists was a girl wearing a black leather jacket, a black shirt, black pants, and black boots. She abruptly turned to the head of security, "Kane, what is this woman doing here?"  
Lexa fought the urge to roll her eyes at how sexist these people were.  
"Madam, I don't-"  
Before Kane could say another word, Clarke put a hand on her mother's arm and pleadingly stated, "You want to hire me a bodyguard, right? Let me choose, please?"  
_"Is that who I think it is?"_  
Anya asked in an utter disbelief reminding her partner of the active earpiece.  
Abby sighed. It was bad enough that her daughter hated this decision especially with their argument earlier that morning. This time she would back down and nod her head in agreement. "Okay. You choose."  
"I choose her," she repeated, briefly pointing at the stranger, trying hard to hide the mischievous smirk on her lips.  
"But," her mother started in hesitation, "can she protect you? She's really small… and she's a girl."  
"Adams, escort her out now," Kane ordered one of his men, who automatically began walking towards the brunette. As soon as he placed a hand on her shoulder, Lexa was alarmed and guarded. Instinct told her to reach for her knife and stab him in his chest, but something told her that would be a bad idea. Instead, she grabbed his hand and pulled it painfully down to his side with a twist, causing the tall man to unwillingly somersault in the air ending with his back on the floor with a loud thud. The man clenched his shoulder in pain as everybody turned to the stranger in surprise with a mixture of fright.  
"Yes!" Clarke clapped her hands together. "She can totally protect me, mom."  
Still, Abby was hesitant about her daughter's sudden decision. She fixed a serious look on her face as she began to interrogate the brunette.  
"What's your name?"  
The stranger maintained her blank expression while Clarke leaned back in her seat, quietly waiting for the answer to the question. She started to wonder if the girl would finally answer the question.  
"Madam Griffin asked you a question," Kane reminded the brunette in a tough tone. Still, she did not respond.  
Abby Griffin repeated, "What is your name?"  
"Lexa Wo-"  
_"Stop! You can't tell Griffin you're a Woods. They'll kill you in a second."_  
"Surname, please?"  
Lexa could see the impatience and suspicion growing on Griffin's face, realizing she needed to answer fast.  
"My name is Lexa…" she trailed off. "Branson. Lexa Branson."  
_"Lexa Branson?"_  
"Lexa Branson," Abby memorized the name. "Where did you train?"  
"Chinese Academy for Martial Arts," she lied. She wondered if that made up institution really existed.  
_"Okay, so I guess we need to create a new profile for you, Lexa Branson."_  
Clarke finally turned to her mother and spoke up, "Just hire her, mom. I think she's already proven that she's qualified for the job."  
"Job?" Lexa croaked.  
"Your job here is to be my daughter's bodyguard," Abby firmly stated. "You will be responsible for her safety and directly accountable to me. You'll meet my executive assistant later to discuss other matters included in your contract. For now however, what I need you to do is to stay with my daughter. Stay with her all the time, that's your primary objective. 24/7."  
"And you're hired," Clarke finished, grinning widely at her newly-hired bodyguard who deliberately ignored her. The blonde stood up from her seat and marched towards the former creepy stranger, dragging her by the shoulder to follow. "You can leave for work now, mom. I can brief my bodyguard."  
Speechless, Abby simply sat and watched Clarke as she walked out of the door with Lexa Branson.

\----------

Lexa struggled to maintain a straight face with the annoyance growing inside her as she followed the pacing blonde down the hallway. She mentally recalled how she ended up with this too cheerful of a person again and again. Worse, she had to remind herself to play bodyguard to save her own life as long as she's locked up in the territory of a dangerous enemy.  
"Lexa, Lexa, Lexa." Clarke mockingly repeated the name, throwing quick glances at the brunette. "Who'd have thought that after you drove off this morning you'd still end up back with me anyway?"  
_"I feel the sudden need to remind you that you can't kill her, Lexa."_  
Lexa sighed and resorted to ignoring the blonde.  
"Really?" Clarke stopped to look at her and put her hands on her hips. "You're still giving me that silent treatment?"  
The brunette simply shot Clarke her best unresponsive expression.  
"Do I need to remind you that I'm your boss now?" the young woman posed a threatening look on her face.  
_"She saved your life, might I add."_  
Lexa scoffed. Quite frankly, she didn't care if she got fired. She didn't need this job. She just needed to leave the manor alive. And there was nothing this blonde could do to change that perspective.  
"Now this is my room." She finally stopped at a white door covered in intricate silver designs. Lexa noticed an electronic keypad on the wall directly next to it. "First thing you need to know is that all important rooms here have automated locks. You need a password to get in. My mom installed this security system right after she got back."  
"What's your password?" the bodyguard quickly asked, clearly interested, causing her boss to throw a questioning look, surprised as to why it suddenly made the brunette speak up. "For security reasons." Lexa continued.  
The blonde shrugged her shoulders and casually showed Lexa her password as she typed it in, "94214."  
_"Noted."_  
"Wait for me here," Clarke instructed before entering the bedroom. She marched towards the bed and started undressing. With her mother asking for her presence immediately after Raven's departure, she didn't have the time to take a shower earlier. She pulled her dress up and off, leaving her only in her lacy underwear. She pulled her hair up and then tied the strands together into a messy bun. She then turned around and squealed in surprise to meet deep emerald eyes staring directly at her body.  
_"What’s happening, Lexa?"_  
"What are you doing?!" the blonde yelled at the woman standing expressionless in front of her as she hurriedly covered her almost naked body with the dress. "I told you to wait outside!"  
Lexa shrugged before speaking, "Your mom said to stay with you all the time. 24/7, in fact."  
Clarke gasped. "And you're taking that seriously and literally?"  
The bodyguard simply kept a straight face.  
"I'm going to take a shower," the blonde slowly spoke hoping that the newly-hired bodyguard would get the point, but to her dismay, the brunette simply stayed in her position.  
_"Is it just me or did I really hear 'shower' somewhere in that sentence?"_  
Clarke sighed heavily to calm herself. She held the dress tightly close to her body as she fixed an authoritative look on the brunette. "I said I'm going to take a shower. What do you think you’re supposed to do?"  
"Madam Griffin said to stay with you all the time," Lexa repeated. "I guess that means I'm going to the bathroom with you."  
"Get out!"  
"I don't recall you getting out of my car when I asked you."  
Clarke glared at her, "Are you trying to get back at me?"  
The other kept her mouth shut.  
"If you are, then unfortunately for you, you weren't the boss of me when you asked me to get out of the car. But now, I'm your boss, and I order you to get out of my room, so you have no other choice but to obey me, understand?"  
But Lexa remained in her place causing the blonde to furiously put her hands on her hips forgetting about the dress she was holding up to cover her body. As a result, the dress fell on the floor and the brunette gazed directly at Clarke’s bare skin accidentally displayed in front of her. Clarke frantically picked the dress up from the floor and covered herself once more, this time desperately resorting to pushing her bodyguard out of the room.  
"Just so you know," the brunette woman turned around to face her boss causing them both to stop. "I'm gay."  
_"Lexa, why are you telling her that?"_  
The confession caused the blonde to widen her eyes and flush at the realization that those deep green eyes may have lingered around her almost naked body with cruel intentions.  
"And I've seen a lot of better bodies than yours," she indifferently added. "I wouldn't necessarily call dibs on you."  
Feeling insulted, Clarke's face turned as red in complete frustration before screaming into Lexa's face, "You are so fired."  
Without even realizing, Lexa couldn't help but genuinely smirk in amusement.

\----------

Lexa Woods rested her feet on top of the table as she leaned back in her chair at Grounders - the headquarters of Trikru. She lit up the cigarette in between her lips, inhaled, and then purposely puffed the smoke towards Anya who frantically whacked the clouds away from her face in disgust.  
"That is so fucking rude, Lexa." The older woman glared at the brunette who only stared blankly at her in response.  
"Here." Lincoln placed a bottle of beer next to Lexa's feet for her before sliding next to Anya on the couch.  
"I still can't believe you actually made it," Octavia shook her head in disbelief. "I surely thought they'll catch you and feed you to tigers."  
Anya smirked at the brunette. "Thanks to the chatty stranger."  
_Not that crazy little monster again_ , Lexa thought. She refused to admit to herself that the blonde actually saved her life. Lexa seriously thought she'd never see the girl for more than a single encounter and it irritated her so much when their paths crossed once again. Whether Clarke saved her or not, Lexa didn't give a shit.  
"But we haven’t found the treasure," Lincoln pointed out.  
"We'll have to go back to the manor," Octavia proposed. "This time we need to carefully plan everything out. For the meantime, Lexa could team up with Anya in re-mapping the house on the computer while I gather the other necessary information."  
"What about me?" Lincoln asked.  
"You should monitor the physical security system of Griffin," Octavia answered. "That would really help us plot Lexa's moves."  
Lincoln nodded his head understandingly. "Will this report satisfy Gustus?"  
They all exchanged looks. Gustus hated failed missions. Well, it didn't entirely fail. They managed to extract significant information about Griffin and the manor, but no sign of the treasure yet. Okay, so it's a failed mission.  
"Have any of you seen Costia?" the brunette suddenly inquired to which her companions replied with a shake of the head. She let out a heavy sigh and finished her bottle of beer in one swig. "I'm out of here."  
"Where are you going?"  
"I need somebody to fuck."  
"I can be your wingman," Lincoln excitedly raised his hand in the air as he hurriedly stood up from his seat.  
"Then I'm coming too." Octavia quickly followed the duo towards the door.  
Anya hesitantly watched her friends go. She figured protesting wouldn’t be acknowledged so instead settled on sinking down in her seat. "I guess I'll have to face Gustus all by myself."

\----------

"Bodyguard, meet my best friend, Raven. Raven, meet my new bodyguard."  
Clarke greeted her best friend with an impassive expression on her face while Raven robotically ran her eyes over the middle-aged man in a black suit standing next to the blonde. He briefly offered a slight bow before looking straight ahead.  
"Nah," Raven squinted her eyes. "Kane is still hotter. _Way_ hotter."  
Clarke threw a glare at the brunette. "I think you're missing the point here, Raven. Newsflash: I have a bodyguard now."  
"If this man is at least as hot as Kane, then I'm sure you wouldn't be complaining like this." The brunette didn't even make the effort to keep her voice down. She simply sneered at her best friend, ignoring the fact that the subject of her sentence was standing in the room with them.  
"I hate my life right now," the blonde sighed. "My mom's making all these crazy decisions about my life and I don't even have a say about them."  
"Aww, that's cute."  
"Well, I had the chance to," she trailed off, suddenly remembering the woman known to be Lexa Branson who was supposed to be her new bodyguard. Where could she be right now, she wondered.  
"What do you mean?" Raven asked curiously.  
Clarke failed to notice the smile growing on her lips, "Mom let me choose and I chose this one crazy girl."  
"Girl?"  
"Remember that creepy stranger I was telling you about?"  
"Oh yeah! You haven't told me that story yet."  
Clarke excitedly shifted her entire body towards her best friend. "She accidentally almost ran over me when I was walking out of that club. I coerced her into driving me home, but she was really, _really_ eerily quiet and had some serious attitude issues. We spent the whole ride bickering and I thought I'd never see her again, but guess what? She was one of them! She applied for the job, and I chose her to be my bodyguard."  
"So where is she?" Raven frantically looked around.  
"Um," her best friend bit her lower lip. "I kind of fired her already… after her first thirty minutes on duty."  
The other raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the sudden course of events. "What happened?"  
Clarke paused for a moment. She wondered if she should tell the entire story. Really, it wasn't the fact that Lexa Branson had her eyes snaked on her exposed skin that she had to fire her. It was because she said she had seen better bodies and that she didn't find her as attractive as other girls. It hurt her chest to hear the brunette say all that to her. Clarke didn't know why, but it was as if every opinion from Lexa started to matter to her. Then, she started wandering back to the possibilities of their paths crossing once again.  
"Hello? Earth to Clarke," Raven snapped.  
The blonde shook her head to brush off the thoughts in her mind. "I'm sorry, what?"  
Raven rolled her eyes and asked, "What's going on in that head of yours, huh?"  
"I was just thinking," Clarke trailed off before turning to her best friend. "Do you think I'll ever see her again? I mean, like, for one more instance, do you think I'll ever see her again?"  
"Who?"  
"Lexa Branson."  
"Who the hell is Lexa Branson?"  
"The creepy stranger."  
Raven opened her mouth but didn't know exactly what to respond until she simply sighed. Shaking her head, she answered, "I don't know, Clarke."  
The blonde drifted back into her thoughts once again. Their paths crossed once more just when she thought she'd never see the stranger ever again. Maybe that meant something. Maybe, just maybe, it could happen again. It happened once, so why not for one more time?  
"Do you still want to answer my question?" Raven suddenly popped up.  
"What?"  
"What happened?" the brunette questioned impatiently. "Why did you fire her immediately?"  
Clarke shrugged, "Let's just say she was really, really rude."  
"Well, if that's the case, she deserves to be fired. We'll just have to stick to Mr. Bodyguard over here." The brunette woman briefly looked over to the quiet man in the black suit and shot him a wink before looking back to Clarke. "By the way, have you talked to your boyfriend?"  
Clarke let out a sigh and lowered her head. "Bellamy hasn’t replied to my messages. And he doesn't answer my calls or return them. Maybe he's avoiding me, I don't know."  
"Break up with him already! I've been telling you that, Clarke."  
"No," the blonde shook her head firmly in disagreement. "I love him."  
"Bullshit."  
Clarke glared at her best friend.  
"Fine," the brunette gasped.  
"Bellamy's just being… Bellamy, you know. Give him some time to prove something."  
"Oh he's already proven me something, alright? He's a jerk!"  
"Raven!" Clarke groaned.  
"Okay, I'll stop now," she calmed herself. "But I was just being honest, okay? You're my best friend and I don't want anyone hurting you."  
"Come on, let's just go sit out by the pool."  
Raven excitedly linked her arm with Clarke's, dragging the other girl towards the pool with the man in the black suit quietly trailing behind them like a guard dog.

\----------

Lexa let herself into the Command Room. Octavia, Anya, and Lincoln were all already there with Gustus, who was seated in his chair, his head slightly bowing down. Lexa could tell that good news had no space in this room.  
"Finally, you blessed us with your presence," was Gustus' not-so-welcoming remark. Lexa stood next to Lincoln facing the Head of Trikru. It felt like being in the Receiving Room of the Griffin manor once again, except for the absence of one crazy blonde.  
"Where's the treasure?"  
"We're still working on it," she quietly replied.  
"That’s not good enough!"  
Lexa could only nod her head while the rest of her team swallowed the lumps in their throats.  
Gustus slammed some papers on the table then looked intently towards the team before him. "These are financial reports and progress reports on our health and education cuts from the previous year. Just so you know they are not good. They're getting worse and worse every single day. We lost a lot of money when Griffin left the organization. She was contributing a lot with her wealth. Our businesses can't sustain needs in the long run. Before we know it, we will be running out of funds. We’ve already failed to deliver services to 10% of our beneficiaries last year. I am not happy about this."  
The other three lowered their heads once more, but Lexa looked straight into Gustus’ eyes and asked, "What shall we do then?"  
"Find the treasure," Gustus answered. "Find it and we'll go back to normal."  
"I said we're working on it."  
The older man shook his head in disagreement. "I have a better plan."  
All four of them exchanged looks in confusion.  
"You're going undercover, Lexa." Gustus flashed a mischievous grin. "I heard about your little adventure in Griffin's manor. Go get that bodyguard job back. That way you can get as close to the enemy as possible without her even realizing. Plus, you have Griffin’s daughter's life in your hands, and you can get a wider access as to where the treasure is. Two birds with one stone."  
Lexa swore she could scream in utter frustration. No! She's not going to work as a bodyguard for that blonde monster. That's completely unfair.  
"Lincoln could do it," she calmly suggested. "All other security guards in there are guys anyway."  
"You've been having as much sex as guys do anyway," the man shot back. The other three stifled their laughs, earning themselves death glares from the brunette. "I expect you to fix that fucking wall you broke, by the way."  
Lexa simply pursed her lips in response.  
"And Lincoln," Gustus turned. "Lexa's other missions will be reassigned to you for the meantime. Expect more assassination and theft operations. We need more money for funds."  
Lincoln smiled at the 'promotion'. He could see Lexa's exasperated face through his peripheral view, and that felt even better. He'll be having more adventures while the short woman was stuck in one job.  
"Um, sir?" Octavia nervously raised her hand and the big boss automatically turned towards her direction. "They already hired a new bodyguard for Griffin's daughter."  
The old man chuckled at Octavia's news in complete amusement. Octavia found this matter a problem, but Gustus simply thought it was a trivial matter that required no discussion. "You know what to do, people. Get him out of the way."  
Octavia flashed a confused look, prompting Gustus to clarify. "Kill him."

\----------

Clarke Griffin slowly opened her eyes, turning to her side and reaching for her phone lying on the bedside table. Still no text or call from Bellamy. She let herself frown for a moment until she remembered the good news her mother had told her the day before. For some reason, her new bodyguard wouldn’t be reporting for duty anymore. She smiled at the thought of her regained freedom. Sitting up, Clarke closed her eyes in delight as she stretched her arms wide. She turned her head towards the window, but suddenly screamed in surprise when she found Lexa Branson standing quietly inside the room.  
_"Ah, the chatty stranger is now awake."_  
Anya's chuckles were heard through the earpiece sitting in Lexa's left ear while another earpiece, a more visible one, connecting to Griffin's security system was placed in her right ear.  
"What are you doing here?" the blonde screamed at Lexa who responded with a blank stare. Furiously, she jumped out of bed and marched towards the uninvited guest. "I fired you already, remember? What are you still doing here?"  
_"More screams in the morning. Nice."_  
Lexa lowered her gaze just a little to take a glance at the blonde's body with much delight. That's when it hit Clarke that she was still wearing her lacy nightgown. She hurriedly hugged herself blocking the view from the brunette.  
"Still not calling dibs on you," the other muttered.  
The blonde shot her a glare. "Get out of here or I'll call my new bodyguard."  
But Lexa remained in her position.  
"I'm telling you, Branson. One push of a button and the bodyguard will be here."  
The brunette simply tilted her head mockingly as if challenging the blonde. Clarke hurried to her landline, dialling somebody who immediately answered her call.  
"I need security in my room now," she ordered.  
"Your bodyguard is in your room, Miss Griffin."  
Clarke's face contorted in confusion as she abruptly looked over at Lexa who simply stared back at her. Bodyguard in her room? That couldn't be right.  
"Is Branson not enough? Do I need to send you more guards, Miss?"  
She couldn't respond as disbelief washed over her.  
"Miss Griffin?"  
"I'm fine," she quickly answered. "N-No need to send additional security. Thank you."  
She slowly hung up the phone and then turned to Lexa. She carefully reached for the blanket lying sloppily on her bed and covered her entire body. Then, she found herself engaged in a staring contest against the one and only Lexa Branson.  
_"This is going to be epic,"_ Anya laughs.  
Lexa only sighed heavily feeling her time being wasted with every passing moment. She should be completing other missions right now, but instead, she's stuck in this manor trying to protect Clarke. It still irritated her to no end at how stupid Abigail Griffin was for rehiring her to be the girl's bodyguard. She'll be paying her to protect this blonde from the enemy, the same person.  
"You?" was all Clarke could utter. The brunette replied with a nod.  
_"And she finally realized!"_  
Clarke sheepishly muttered, "But I fired you already."  
"Your mother reinstated me."  
"That only means…"  
"I'll be staying with you all the time. 24/7." Lexa finished the sentence for her new boss.  
_"Ah, that's right. Sweet."_  
"Unfortunately," she quickly added.  
The blonde slowly curved her lips into a smirk, an idea developing in her mind. Lexa started to hypothesize that she was not going to like the idea at all.  
"First things first," Clarke started. "We'll have to establish that _I'm_ your boss and that means _you_ need to respect me and start obeying all my orders."  
_"Oh, she's got you under her now, Lexa Woods."_  
"Are we clear?"  
Lexa could only sigh as a response.  
"Good," the blonde let out a victorious smile. "First order: since you insist on barging into my room, you need to greet me cheerfully when I wake up in the morning."  
_"Now I want to hear that."_  
Just like that, Lexa fought all the urge and craving to kill the woman standing in front of her.  
"I just woke up. What do you say?"  
The brunette gritted her teeth as she watched the smirk on Clarke's lips grow more and more. She was left with no other choice. Defeated, Lexa struggled to open her mouth, before mumbling, "Good morning."  
"Aww," Clarke wittily ridiculed. "So cute."


	5. Crickets

# 5\. Crickets

With the 24/7 duty requirement, Lexa Woods disguised as Lexa 'the bodyguard' Branson patiently watched over Clarke Griffin while the young woman went for a run around the subdivision and ate her breakfast. Then she waited in the bedroom as the blonde took a shower and prepared for the day ahead. But it wasn't enough that she had to work as the bodyguard, Clarke demanded that she should be her personal driver too. Much to the brunette's dismay, she couldn’t refuse.  
"Don't you have any other clothes?" Clarke asked as she sat in the backseat of the car, eyeing yet another full black attire of her bodyguard and driver.  
Lexa simply looked back at her through the rear view mirror as a response.  
_At least she didn't ignore me_ , the blonde thought to herself, before throwing in another question.  
"So what made you apply for the job?"  
Again, the other answered by peeking through the rear view mirror.  
"Hey! I thought we already established that I'm the boss here!" complained by the woman. "You're being unfair, Branson."  
_"Just answer her already,"_ Anya ordered.  
Lexa let out a deep sigh and replied to her new boss, "I need this job."  
"Please. I own a Range Rover, your car is an Aston Martin!" the other exclaimed. "Why would you need a job like this if you could afford such a luxury?"  
"I don't own the car," Lexa lied. In fact, it was the only possession she had aside from her pocket knife, a small flashlight, cigarette packs and lighters, and some sets of clothes.  
"You intentionally wrecked its audio system and you don't own it?"  
"I just said I don't own it, right?"  
"Well, did you steal it or something? Because that's something you're undoubtedly capable of doing."  
Lexa took another quick glance through the rear view mirror, this time a death glare was affixed on her eyes as the blonde sported an annoying grin.  
_"If she also knew you're capable of killing people, I'm pretty sure she would have shut her mouth by now."_  
Clarke began to speak again but was immediately cut off by the driver hurriedly changing the gear and then stepping hard on the accelerator, causing the car to abruptly run at full speed. The blonde fearfully held on to anything she could and started yelling.  
"Slow down! You'll go past the speed limit!"  
Lexa simply chose to ignore her, enjoying that Clarke had no other choice but to sit back and pray they make it to volunteering at Arkadia Day Care.

\----------

" _Hello!_ whispered a praying mantis, scraping its huge front legs together.  
The little cricket wanted to answer, so he rubbed his wings together.  
But nothing happened. Not a sound."  
It was easy for someone as blithe as Clarke Griffin to turn one of the most boring children's books into something interesting and entertaining for the toddlers and surprisingly, even for Lexa, who mindfully stood behind the story teller. She would never admit it, but somehow she found herself liking the book reading session and was secretly amused by the look of interest on the faces of the children.  
"Then he rubbed his wings together one more time.  
And this time…  
… he chirped the most beautiful sound that she had ever heard."  
Clarke finished reading, and the toddlers erupted in applause. The blonde couldn't help but giggle at the minor adoration from her little fans while her bodyguard maintained yet another straight face.  
_"She could use that as a speech and I'd still vote for her as President of the United States of America,"_ Anya's voice rang through the hidden ear piece.  
Lexa grunted unconvincingly.  
Suddenly, one of the children eagerly shot his hand up in the air. The blonde turned her attention to him and he quickly posed his question, "But why is she standing over there doing nothing?"  
She followed his gaze and found Lexa caught off guard, her usual blank expression stained with confusion and discomfort as everybody else in the room paid their attention to her. Such a thing had never happened before. She wasn’t used to standing in the spotlight. Her boss smiled at her optimistically and answered the question, "Oh she's our mascot... the best mascot, indeed. She's the best example of a very quiet _cricket_."  
Lexa shot her a look for calling her a cricket, but the blonde simply winked at her before returning her attention to the adorable audience. The brunette failed to notice that her jaw had slightly dropped and her breathing stopped for a moment due to the brief gesture her boss just made towards her. It was different from any other wink she received before. It was different from that of Lincoln's you-know-what-I-mean wink or Anya's you're-getting-laid-tonight wink, and not even close to the I-want-you-to-fuck-me wink she would always get from Costia. That one single unexpected wink from Clarke made her feel something she was so sure she had never felt before.

\----------

Clarke reached for her water bottle for a long drink after her dance class, then hastily threw her things into her gym bag. Her best friend silently followed her every move with her eyes.  
"Someone's in a hurry," the brunette pointed out her observation.  
"What?" the other turned around for a quick glance at her best friend, "No. I'm just…" then she paused to think of a label for whatever she was doing, ending with a shrug, "I'm just getting ready to leave… as usual."  
A smirk was suddenly plastered on Raven’s lips.  
"Is Bellamy picking you up today?"  
"No," the other quietly answered with a frown. "He hasn't tried to contact me yet since that night at the club." Before her best friend could feel sorry for her, she rapidly added, "But I'm sure he'll call me soon."  
Clarke flashed a quick forced smile and grabbed her bag, heading for the exit. Raven sighed to herself as she shook her head disapprovingly. It annoyed her to death that for some stupid reason, her best friend chose him, of all people, to be her boyfriend. She was more than willing to give her heart to him only to be constantly ignored. Clarke wouldn't admit it, but she was certainly hurt. Still, she would keep her head up and keep wait for him.  
"Maybe he lied when he said-"  
Clarke immediately cut her off, "No! He wouldn't do that. Bellamy gave me his word, he's not going to fuck that up. He knows how important that promise is to me."  
Raven lowered her head, deciding the argument wasn’t worth it. "So who's picking you up?" she asked, trying to ease the bad mood in the atmosphere.  
To her surprise, the blonde suddenly became re-energized.  
"My bodyguard."  
"Wait," she furrowed her eyebrow in confusion. "When did you become so excited about having a bodyguard?"  
"Since Lexa Branson came back for duty!"  
The brunette rolled her eyes and commented, "She's rude. I don't like her."  
"It's just part of the attitude, Raven. Come on, don't let her get to you. Shoot back at her and you should see how priceless that irritated look on her face is. It's so much fun!"  
Clarke chuckled in amusement while her best friend grimaced in annoyance.  
"She's rude and she smells of cigarettes."  
"She doesn't."  
Raven stopped them both and pointed to her nose.  
"You know the power of these nostrils, Clarke. Trust me when I say she smokes cigarettes."  
But before Clarke could argue back, the woman in question appeared in front of them, reaching for her boss' gym bag so she could carry it for her. She shifted her eyes towards Raven with a blank expression to which the woman replied with a snort. The blonde smiled at the duo before wrapping her best friend in a goodbye hug and then following Lexa towards her Range Rover.  
On their way to a coffee shop per Clarke's order, the woman sat quietly in the backseat completely preoccupied with her best friend's theory. Such sudden behavior was rather too uncommon even for Lexa, who began making the effort of checking on Clarke once in a while through the rear view mirror. The brunette knew that she should have been feeling thrilled that the blonde finally stopped talking, but the look of distress on her face had great impact on her. She dreaded what could be the reason behind such peculiar behavior, but didn’t dare ask. Thankfully, after a few more silent minutes, her inaudible boss finally spoke her mind.  
"Raven thinks you smoke."  
And then Lexa was back to brushing her off again.  
"Well, do you?"  
The driver sighed heavily, typically annoyed by another demand from her boss. She reached into the breast pocket of her black leather jacket and pulled out a cigarette, offering it to Clarke without taking her eyes off the road. She waited for the other woman to grab it from her grip, but the blonde only smashed it away causing the item to fall on the floor. Lexa was suddenly torn between concentrating on her driving and salvaging the cigarette stick. It was important to her, she paid for it!  
_"Whatever happened there just keep your eyes on the road!"_  
Anya's order made her stick to her initial decision, but that didn't stop the small woman from shooting evil glares at her passenger. She shouldn’t have asked if she was just going to smack it away.  
"There are two things I definitely can't tolerate," the boss then spoke out. "First is the silent treatment... but with you constantly doing it, honestly I might get used to it. But the second one, the one I will never tolerate at all, Branson, is smoking. Raven and I hate the smell of it."  
_"Is it just me or is she really asking you to quit smoking?"_  
Lexa remained silent but vulgar language was already slipping into her head, almost overflowing in fact.  
"So I suggest you throw your cigarettes away as soon as possible," added the blonde.  
_"Wow. What a way to level up this relationship."_  
The driver turned her eyes on the rear view mirror and met bright blue eyes. She didn't say a single word, but the blonde figured what she meant by her look. Lexa's 'why the fuck would I do that?' look. Nevertheless, Clarke decided to kept her mouth shut once again.  
Normally, Lexa would have reached for another cigarette out of her pocket and secured it in between her lips, just for the sake of annoying someone especially this blonde monster. But there was something about the look on Clarke's face when she took another glance through the rear view mirror that made Lexa back down. Nevermind that Anya was there at the end of the communication device carefully listening to their conversation. The brunette softened her eyes without realizing. She held onto the steering wheel and took a deep breath before muttering in her usual low voice, "If it makes you feel better, I'll try."  
Clarke must have thought she didn't hear right due to the unfamiliar words of kindness coming from the mouth of a naturally rude person, so she chose to lean her head on the window and stared blankly outside of the window.  
So Lexa took another deep breath when no response came from the redhead.  
"I said… if it makes you feel better, I'll try."  
That second time, the words finally sunk in. Clarke slowly turned her eyes towards the rear view mirror knowing this was where she would catch Lexa's dark gaze. True enough, emeralds danced across oceans, glued to one another. Somehow, the blonde felt lively once again. She let her lips curve into her usual charming smile.  
"Really?"  
"Hmm."  
Clarke softly smiled and teased, "You are such a cricket, Lexa Branson."  
Whatever that statement from her boss meant, Lexa listened to her heart's instinct and took it as a compliment. Wow, heart? She didn't even know she had a heart. All this time, she was so sure that she was a walking dead whose soul was already burning in hell.

\----------

 _"Okay, cricket, let's get moving."_  
Lexa stopped abruptly from crawling across the vent as soon as Anya's words came in contact with her ears.  
"Call me cricket one more time and the first thing I'll do when I get back is stab you," she expressed her fit of rage in a constrained rumble.  
A non-existing sound of crickets echoed everywhere as silence fell between the two of them. If words could kill, Anya didn't even need to wait for the brunette assassin to return to the headquarters.  
_"Wow, Lexa, I was just joking. I thought if Clarke could call you that, maybe I could-"_  
"If I wasn’t doing undercover, I would have killed her already, alright?"  
The composure and conviction laced in Lexa's voice managed to sway Anya, but through the communication device, she missed the hint of reluctance on the brunette's face. It was the tiniest amount of reluctance, but for someone like Lexa Woods who had always been so sure about killing others, especially an enemy, that tiny amount of reluctance was no less than a basin the size of an ocean.  
"Freeze the cameras, I'm going down."  
_"Freezing…"_ Anya paused for a second before eagerly announcing, _"and you're now Lexa 'the invisible' Branson."_  
Already prepared, Lexa jumped off the vent landing on the carpeted floor on her feet, just missing the main office desk. It would have created unnecessary noise that would surely catch the attention of the guards posted outside the door, as well as the already asleep Abigail Griffin in the next room. Although Lincoln and the back-up team were all waiting strategically outside the manor, Lexa judged it was still best not to ignite a shootout.  
_"Remember killing is a last resort, Lexa. You'll get caught immediately and then trapped in the manor. If a guard enters, you simply have to hide."_  
Well, that meant Lexa had to move fast. A vault. She needed to look for a vault which could possibly keep the stolen treasure. She cautiously scanned the home executive office with a pair of night vision goggles that had built-in camera feed, sending the same findings to Anya's laptop for the rest of the team's viewing.  
_"Vaults are usually hidden behind paintings and books."_  
But she had scanned half of the room already without the detection of a hidden vault. She kept searching until her gaze halted at a detected object behind the desk chair.  
"I think I found it," she announced in the quietest manner possible.  
She took her night vision goggles off and switched on her small flashlight, directing it towards the detected area as she approached it, but to her dismay, it was nothing but a plain wall. She ran her hands all over it with the hope that her skin would come in contact with a gap, a secret button or something, an indication that this can be safely and quietly broken open to reach a hidden vault on the other side. But nothing. It was just a plain wall. She put her goggles back just to make sure she's seen it right.  
_"That has to be the vault right there. Octavia thinks so too."_  
"It's just a wall. No sign of a device or anything."  
_"Okay, keep looking."_  
Before the brunette could put her goggles back into place, she heard footsteps coming towards the office. That meant, a guard was about to come inside for the hourly inspection. She had to hide, fast. There was no time to think, the only choice she had available was the protection of the huge wooden table, so she hastily crawled underneath it. It wasn't the best idea, but it was her only choice for the moment. In a split second, as expected, the door was pushed open and the lights were switched on. Lexa guessed the two guards briefly checked the room from where they stood by the door and thankfully the light were quickly switched off again, and the door closed. Thankfully though, just before the room was embraced by darkness once again, the brunette happened to look upwards, discovering a hidden fingerprint scanner, just below the wooden desk. As soon as the coast was clear, she switched her flashlight on and directed the light towards the device.  
"I found something," she told her team.  
_"What is it?"_  
"It's a fingerprint scanner."  
_"I knew it! Griffin’s installed a biometrics access control security device."_ Shortly after her joy, Anya let out a heavy sigh with realization. _"You need her fingerprint, Lexa, for the recognition system. Fuck!"_  
Lexa sensed the frustration and defeat in her teammate's voice. She didn't have a fingerprint sample of Abby Griffin. She could try scanning her fingerprints on it, but surely, every attempt would result in failure, as well as increase her chances of getting caught. But suddenly, she came up with an idea.  
"Well, you can hack almost anything now, right?"  
_"What do you mean?"_  
"I'll have to try to do this."  
Anya started her lecture on the risks and consequences of Lexa's vague proposal. But the brunette had already decided to herself to ignore her teammate's commands. She examined the device and noticed that she only needed one fingerprint to obtain its approval. Well, with its odd position, this would render Griffin more convenience than having to scan all her fingers at once. She subsequently ran light over the surface of the scanner. Yes! A clear fingerprint glinted through the dark. Lexa pushed herself up so that her mouth was just below the surface of the scanner. She blew her warm breath gently towards it hoping to fool the scanner in the process. She figured the small water particles from her breath could gather up in between the stained fingerprint lines without tarnishing them, in the process, erroneously convincing the scanner that a finger was actually pressed on it. On her first try, the device's verdict was 'Access Denied'. Lexa waited for a few seconds as she fixed the flashlight towards the scanner to dry up the surface for a second try. This time, her gentle breaths came off in shorter period.  
"'Access Granted'," Lexa read the result causing Anya to squeal in triumph.  
_"You are awesome, Lexa!"_  
Lexa hurried to move out from her hideout and noticed that the plain wall had already been opened to reveal a hidden room – the vault in its totality. So the biometrics access control was merely a key to open the vault. The brunette stood by the entrance to inspect the area. No sign of any treasure or anything can be found inside, except for a brown envelope lying vulnerably on the floor towards the farthest end of the vault. Something wasn’t right. This shouldn't be this easy. So Lexa figured, there's no other explanation for this but the threat that comes with a laser security circuit system.  
"I'll have to leave you for a while. I'll be caught up in a dance."  
_"What? Lexa? What are you talking about?"_  
But Lexa had already removed her communication device off her. She took off her clothes, from her leather jacket to her boots, leaving her only in her underwear. She tied her hair up into a tight bun and secured the night vision goggles around her head, taking a deep breath as the sight of crisscrossing laser lights fell before her eyes. One wrong move would either injure her or trigger an alarm of some sort, or maybe both depending on the set configuration of the security system installed. And she had less than an hour before the next scheduled patrol of the assigned guards – not a lot of time for this kind of maze. Turning around she slowly made her way towards her possible doom. She hopped, crawled, twisted and turned her body as she struggled to avoid those laser lights.  
Halfway through, she miscalculated a move and unwantedly, her left cheek came in contact with a laser pencil line. She stopped and waited for the worst to come. No alarm was triggered but the laser, imitating the power of a sharp blade, cut a straight line on the skin on her left cheek causing her to wince. If she didn't debate this trap beforehand and walked straight into what was invisible to the naked eye, her body would have been cut into a thousand pieces. Ignoring the pain, she resumed her work obtaining a few more cuts, decorating her bare skin until she reached the brown envelope. Taking it out with her would have raised more than just suspicion, so she carefully peered inside the envelope. A short bond paper with the words: **You'll have to kill me first.**

\----------

Lexa walked across the hallways as if her injuries didn't sting her. The other guards threw odd stares at her upon the recognition of the bleeding cut on her left cheek. She only returned these stares with her signature blank expression and carried on with her path towards her post. Just as soon as she reached that decorated white door, it flung open revealing a still very awake Clarke Griffin.  
"Where have you been?" she interrogated, her voice laced with authority matching the folded arms across her chest. "What happened to 'I'll be staying with you all the time. 24/7, in fact'?"  
Lexa didn't give an answer. For someone who was typically quiet and rude, a response would only make the blonde more suspicious. What kind of answer would she give her anyway? She can't tell her boss that she just broke into her mother's home office, hacked the installed security system, discovered a hidden vault, and obtained nothing but a useless sentence.  
_"Tell her you went for a coffee break,"_ Anya came to her rescue.  
"Coffee break."  
Without thinking, Lexa's statement ended with rising intonation, indicating doubt in her excuse.  
Clarke furrowed her eyebrow as Lexa stared back at her. _Take it or leave it_ , the brunette thought. The young Griffin opened her mouth to ask follow-up questions for her bodyguard to answer but then she noticed the bleeding on her left cheek. She shifted her full attention to the wound, wondering what could have caused such a blemish on Lexa's porcelain face. She let her arms fall to her sides then walked towards the brunette closing the gap between them. Surprisingly, Lexa remained calm in her position as she watched her boss stare at her wound in awe, but it wasn't until Clarke raised her hand supposedly to touch Lexa's cheek that the other woman hastily moved backwards and carelessly wiped some blood off with the back of her hand.  
"It's nothing," the brunette muttered.  
"What hap-"  
"What do you need?" asked Lexa, immediately cutting the sentence off.  
"I can't sleep."  
Waiting for no further response from the wordless bodyguard, Clarke dragged her into her bedroom, and of course, Lexa had no other choice but to follow. The blonde climbed onto her bed and patted a space next to her where her companion should take a seat. Clarke deliberately tucked herself in as she prepared to go to sleep.  
But then she suddenly ordered, "Sing to me."  
What?  
_"What?"_  
Anya's stunned reaction suddenly turned into a fit of laughter.Asking _The_ Lexa Woods to sing a lullaby?  
"Come on," the blonde pressed. "Just sing to me, so I can go to sleep."  
"Why don't you just fucking go to sleep?"  
Clarke threw her a look.  
"I want you to sing, that's an order."  
_"Do you even sing, Lexa?"_  
Anya still couldn't contain her laughter. It would have been easy to just walk out right that very moment if only Lexa had found the stupid treasure in that vault, but here was Clarke, giving the brunette puppy-dog eyes. So Lexa began singing, muttering the words to be exact.  
" _Fuck you. Fuck you very, very much,_  
'Cause we hate what you-"  
Clarke shot the most devilish scowl she could ever deliver to her very rude bodyguard as Anya burst out laughing again into Lexa's ears.  
"Could you please sing something more appropriate, Branson?"  
For some odd reason, the brunette found herself in submission to the redhead's plea. Good thing she had this undercover mission as an excuse. Clearing her throat she began to sing again, this time clearly.  
" _We were staying in Paris,_  
To get away from your parents,  
And I thought wow,  
If I could take this in a shot right now,  
I don’t think that we could work this out."  
Lexa knew Anya had dropped her jaw on the floor already when she heard nothing but silence from her earpiece, but she continued singing anyway.  
" _Out on the terrace,_  
I don’t know if it’s fair but,  
I thought how,  
Could I let you fall by yourself,  
While I’m wasted for someone else."  
She turned to Clarke and saw she had closed her eyes.  
" _If we go down, then we go down together,_  
They’ll say you could do anything,  
They’ll say that I was clever."  
Clarke's breathing was almost soft and steady.  
" _If we go down, then we go down together,_  
We’ll get away with everything,  
Let’s show them we are better..."  
Lexa quietly trailed off. Her audience had already fallen asleep. Her eyes softened as she watched the sleeping beauty. If she wasn't Lexa Woods and the girl on the bed wasn't Clarke Griffin, she would have reached for those loose strands of hair to clear them away from that angelic face. But she was Lexa Woods and the girl was Clarke Griffin so instead, she placed sharpness back in her eyes and walked out of the darkened room, returning to her bodyguard post. Just as she did, she missed the sweet smile that formed on the lips of a supposedly asleep Clarke. The blonde was certain she would love to sleep in the arms of a certain cricket's lullaby every night.


	6. Enemies

# 6\. Enemies

Lexa quietly kept a watchful eye on Clarke as she patiently sat in front of a vanity mirror while an entire crew of makeup artists and stylists gave her a retouch for the remaining leg of the photo shoot. She would be appearing on the cover page of a popular fashion magazine, the name of which was deliberately forgotten by the brunette. She spotted Clarke's executive assistant, seated on the couch and so decided to take this opportunity to take a break from her undercover job as the bodyguard, for some alone time with her cigarettes. Her boss, who strictly disapproved this habit, didn't need to know, so she swiftly found a silent exit out of the dressing room to search for a smoking area in the building. To her dismay, the only available place was the restroom. Nevertheless, she quickly lit a burn as she listened to Anya through her earpiece.  
_"We need you to get out of your comfort zone, Lexa. Try talking to Clarke, she might know something about the treasure."_  
"What if she doesn't?"  
_"Just try and talk to her. You never know, she might give us some clue."_  
"Why would she tell me anything?"  
_"Face it, Lexa. Whether you like it or not, she likes you."_  
Immediately after the last sentence they both stopped. Fortunately for Anya, she was out of the brunette’s reach or she should have been dead. What she didn't know was that Lexa didn't wear the devilish glare she was supposed to be sporting on her face. Instead, she simply froze in place as her mind went black in an instant. Even so, Anya snappily tried to fix what was supposedly damage.  
_"I-I mean… she's fond of you… you know. God, you are nothing but rude to her, Lexa! She's your boss but you're giving her the fucking attitude. If I were her, I would have fired you already."_  
"She did fire me."  
_"And then she took you back. How sweet, isn't it?"_  
Coming back to her old normal self, the brunette let out an infuriated grunt while her partner went on and on to tease her. She exhaled some smoke slowly, watching it disappear in the air when a cubicle door slammed open.  
"What the hell is that smell?!"  
Lexa coolly looked through the mirror to find Raven Reyes standing right behind her. Seeing that the girl was already furious with her, she inhaled again and then carelessly exhaled more smoke out of her mouth filling the room with its odor.  
"What the hell are you doing?" the other barked at her as she frantically search for a perfume in her shoulder bag, but instead of giving an answer, the brunette simply stared back at her. "This is a restroom, Branson. This is not some kind of a smoking area."  
"Same thing," mumbled the bodyguard.  
Raven chose to ignore the comment and proceeded with spraying perfume everywhere as if there was a fire and the perfume was an extinguisher. She took some pieces of tissue and snatched the cigarette stick from Lexa, putting it out, and disposing of it much to the brunette's displeasure. Then Lexa wrathfully watched her undesired companion resume with filling the room with that sweet scent. She hated it. She hated everything about this woman.  
"Still smells like shit," Raven sniffed the air around her. She glanced at Lexa once more, and sprayed some sweet scent all over her, smirking. "There. Much much better, right?"  
Lexa gritted her teeth and directed sharp eyes towards the other who was finally placing the perfume back into her bag.  
"You… owe… me… a… stick," she stated.  
_"Come on, Lexa, let it go. It's just a cigarette."_  
But it wasn't just a cigarette for her.  
"I don't owe you anything," the other replied firmly, throwing an authoritative look at her.  
Realizing there was no point of arguing, Lexa took a deep breath in a failed attempt to drown the anger boiling in her. Raven was lucky. If she wasn't on a mission, she would have strangled this woman to her death without any hesitation or regret.  
"I heard you talking," Raven spoke out as she began to bring out her make-up kit after washing her hands. "I am certain that you were talking about your boss who happens to be my best friend. Am I right or am I definitely right?"  
The bodyguard simply huffed in response.  
"I seriously thought there was someone else in here, but well, I guess it's just the crazy bodyguard talking to herself." Raven shrugged her shoulders at the sight of the absence of any other human being in the restroom. "So what's up with the... 'what if she doesn't' and 'why would she tell me anything' anyway, huh?"  
Right then, Lexa was so sure that this girl was best friends with Clarke. They're both very chatty. And nosy. So annoying in every way.  
_"Don't answer her."_  
"I don't trust you, Branson. I think you should know."  
Lexa still gave no response.  
"You really are rude, aren't you?" The other snapped, pausing from putting on her lipstick to turn to the brunette who was already disturbingly unresponsive for her standard. "When a boss asks you a question, you are to answer them, is that clear?"  
"Good thing you’re not my boss," the other mumbled.  
_"Ugh. You really are such a bitch, Lexa. Would you just walk out? You can't be on the best friend's bad side."_  
It didn't show on her face, but Lexa gladly obliged. She couldn't stand to stay in the same vicinity as Reyes.  
"Hey!" Raven called out. "I'm still talking to you. Don't just walk out on me."  
But the brunette was already on her way to the door. Raven made another attempt to call her attention but the only response she got was the unnecessary slamming of the door. Lexa dragged herself somewhere else, trying to find a much better location, away from any distractions, for another cigarette break.

\----------

Lexa was so sure she was only gone for another good fifteen minutes, but when she returned to the photo shoot, all that was left were a few people, some members of the magazine crew who were wrapping everything up. Noticeably, the blonde monster she had for a boss was already gone. She kept her cool but inside, she was having a panic attack. She knew she's not supposed to feel that way. So what if Clarke was missing? It's not her business anyway. The stolen treasure was her only business here, no more and no less. She tried to rationalize her sudden action of rapidly searching for the blonde by putting it this way: if something bad happens to her, Abigail Griffin would definitely send her men to hunt Lexa down and kill her before she could even get close to the stolen treasure. Okay, that idea didn't scare her at all. The notorious Lexa Woods was never scared of anything not even of her own death, the thought of Clarke missing was most definitely just a small one-off.  
Thankfully, she spotted the executive assistant by the vanity mirror, and so immediately rushed to her.  
"Where's Clarke?" she questioned.  
The woman raised an eyebrow at her, confused by the nature of the inquiry. "Clarke left already. She said she'd meet you up at the parking..." her voice trailed off at the sudden realization of what was certainly happening.  
_Shit_ , Lexa thought. She took another scan around the room, this time for a particular dark-haired person. Clarke had to be with her best friend.  
"Where's Raven?" she asked no one in particular and the rest of the people in the dressing room simply exchanged looks.  
"I'm right here. What the hell do you want from me?"  
The bodyguard turned around to see that indeed Raven was right by her side. She never thought this moment would come but her voice and her eyes were obviously pleading for answers when she asked, "Have you seen Clarke?"  
Raven nervously shrugged her shoulders in response. "S-She's doing the photo shoot, right?"  
"Damn it," Lexa muttered to herself as she ran towards the exit. Where the hell did Clarke go? She needed to find her, but where? Remembering the presence of her partner in crime at the end of the hidden communication device, she commanded, "Track her phone."  
_"Don't worry, Lexa, I'm on it."_

\----------

Clarke quietly watched her boyfriend as he ate a plate of Bolognese that he had ordered for himself. She couldn't believe she sneaked away from her bodyguard just to be ignored by Bellamy once again. _Lexa must be freaking out by now_ , she thought, but later rationalized that the brunette would probably be too indifferent to care about her disappearance anyway. When Bellamy called up earlier, he sounded so sweet and sincere – the kind of Bellamy that Clarke truly adored before. Who wouldn't fall for that trick?  
"Are you going to order anything?" he asked the girl seated across him without even bothering to give her a look.  
She shook her head and forced a smile. "No, I'm fine."  
She mentally cursed herself. She was supposed to be mad at him – for that disaster date a week ago, for not even bothering enough to contact her after that, and just for being so much of a complete douche. But she was easily reminded as to why she was staying in this relationship.  
"Bellamy," she directed her soft eyes to him. "Can I ask you something?"  
Bellamy paused for a moment, shooting her a quick awkward glance before resuming with his meal. "Okay."  
"Is the answer still 'yes'?"  
As she patiently waited for his answer, Clarke glued her eyes on her boyfriend's face which slowly contorted in confusion. Bellamy had no idea what his girlfriend was referring to. Nonetheless, that hopeful look she was throwing towards his direction told him to nod his head in agreement to what was unknown to him.  
"Yeah, totally."  
Of course, the blonde didn't know the lie in that statement.  
"I love you," she said courageously.  
Bellamy stiffed a laugh, but otherwise replied, "Yeah, sure, I love you, too."  
Clarke had no previous relationship to compare it to, but she was so sure it wasn't supposed to be like this, and it certainly wasn't the proper way to tell someone you love them. To make her feel better though, she just rationalized to herself that Bellamy was different.  
"Um, by the way," the brunette looked up from his plate to meet her eyes for the second time since they arrived at the restaurant. "We're going to Las Vegas this weekend."  
"We are?"  
He nodded positively. "It's Greg's birthday."  
"Do we have to go? I mean, we haven't spent some quality time together in quite a while."  
At this Bellamy dropped his utensil, rested his hands on the table, and shot her a look as he firmly stated once more, "It's Greg's birthday."  
Clarke let out a sigh and forced another smile on her lips. "I'll ask someone at the manor to book us the plane tickets right away."  
"The hotel reservation too."  
"Any preference?"  
"Bellagio, Penthouse Suite."  
But before Clarke could even nod her head, a pocket knife suddenly stood in between the index finger and middle finger of Bellamy's left hand missing his skin by a few millimeters. The couple, startled, turned their heads to the side to find a furious Lexa, holding her pocket knife firmly into place.  
"T-That… is so cool." Bellamy pulled his trembling hands away and examined them for any damage.  
Lexa shot him a death glare and muttered, "I missed."  
"Lexa!" the blonde shrieked, standing up from her seat to restrain her bodyguard from doing any more damage. "Are you crazy?"  
_"And you found her."_  
Lexa looked straight into bright blue eyes with no words or anything at all, but so much anger burning in her own. Maybe she was indeed crazy. If nature permits, she could have killed anybody with that razorblade look. Clarke stopped in her tracks, staring back at Lexa. It was the first time ever that she felt truly scared by the brunette. That look in her eyes, it was something different. She'd seen her mad before, but this time was completely different. Coming to her senses, she placed her hands on her hips and fell back into the role of boss again  
"Apologize to him."  
Lexa only gritted her teeth and balled her fists in frustration.  
"I said, apologize to him, Lexa!"  
"I believe he doesn't have any appointment with you today," the brunette replied. "Why would I apologize to him?"  
"Because he's my boyfriend," Clarke answered. It wasn't supposed to make her feel as such, but apparently, those words stung the brunette for some unidentified reason. "He doesn't have to go through my assistant or anybody else, including you. He can have an appointment with me any time of the day he wants, Lexa."  
_"Okay, I guess this is settled. It's just her boyfriend."_  
But the bodyguard threw a quick glance at the guy still seated, a sinister smirk placed on his lips. It was so irritating that Lexa swore she could have just stabbed him to death. So this is the so-called boyfriend, that same guy who left Clarke at the Grounders. For a moment, she stopped herself. Apparently, she was actually listening to the blonde's rants during their first encounter. Lexa knew she wasn't supposed to. She wasn't supposed to care about anything in Clarke's life. So what if her boyfriend was a total jerk? But she couldn't stop the rage growing in her entire body.  
"That's not how it works for me," she said, retrieving her knife from the table and securing it in her pocket. Then, grabbing her boss by the arm, she pulled Clarke away with her. "I'm taking you home."  
_"Okay, Lexa, what the hell are you doing?"_  
It was only when Clarke asked for help that Bellamy finally decided to stand up and defend his girlfriend, but the moment his palms came in contact with Lexa's arm, she gave him a hard punch to the face causing him to fall back onto the table.

\----------

After a very bad day, nothing was more relaxing for Lexa Woods than a good cigarette break. She sat quietly all alone under a Pecan tree near the security quarters, enjoying the cold of the night with the warm comfort that came with smoking. It was nice to find some complete alone time – no earpiece, no microphone, no Clarke, no duties. There was nothing else but her and her cigarette. But, well, there was Kane angrily marching towards her with two other men in black suit trailing right behind him. The head of security stood in front of the female bodyguard who simply moved her eyes towards his face, filled with a blank expression.  
"Well?" he started, throwing his arms up.  
She carelessly extinguished the already too short cigarette into the ashtray, before reaching out for another from her breast pocket, then offering it to her visitors. "Cigarette, gentlemen?"  
Kane only smashed it from her hand. The brunette pursed her lips at the sudden reaction as she watched the stick land somewhere on the ground. What was it with people wasting her cigarettes? They could have simply declined her offer. She calmly reached for another one for herself and started smoking once again.  
"The next time you decide to hit somebody in the face make sure it's not your boss' boyfriend," the man warned.  
"So am I fired or what?" she asked, obviously uninterested.  
"And quit with the attitude, will you?" he hissed at her. "You're lucky enough that Miss Griffin wants you to stay. I don't know how you did it, Branson, but the only reason her mother agreed is because you found her in an instant. Otherwise, I would have thrown you out of this place myself."  
"That's what you want anyway, right?"  
Kane placed his hands on his hips and looked sharply into Lexa's scornful eyes. "It is never forgotten that you are here because of some sort of stupid accident. I have my eyes on you, Branson. Don't forget that. One wrong move and I'll kick you out of here."  
Lexa merely huffed in response.  
"And you may be part of this group," he firmly stated, making sure his words sunk into her mind, "But you will never be one of us. I command the rest of this group, Branson."  
"Exactly. I don't take orders from you."  
The head of security gritted his teeth at the retort from the brunette.  
"So are you done?" she looked up to him mockingly.  
Kane flashed one more evil glare at her in complete annoyance before turning on his heels and walking away one of the men in black suits. Surprisingly, the guy with black curly hair and dark skin who Lexa recognized as the one named Paul stayed. She silently followed him with her eyes as he slowly walked towards the thrown cigarette stick lying on the ground. He picked it up, placed it in between his lips, and lit it up with his own lighter, then took a seat next to the brunette.  
"If you ask me, you're not here because of some sort of a stupid accident," Paul said confidently. He turned towards the woman, but she offered no response. So he immediately added, "We both know why you are here."  
Lexa wondered if he really did know the reason, but she remained calm anyway.  
"I know who you are, Lexa."  
Still, she did not respond.  
"I’ve seen you before. I should have known it when you joined us at the Receiving Room."  
"Sure," was all she said. In her mind flashed possible old memories of how she might have encountered this man, but to no avail.  
Paul let out a sigh, and then turned to her once again. "But I owe you my life. I know you could have easily stuck your infamous pocket knife into my chest, but you didn't. I value your choice so I’ll pay you back… I won't tell Kane or anyone about your dirty little secret."  
No, Lexa won't express any sign of gratitude to the man. She didn't care.  
"But you have to watch your back, kid," he tried to warn her in the friendliest manner he could muster. "The man is right. You are not one of us after all. Worse comes to worst, you should know I won't be taking your side."  
Certainly, this man knew something. His words were some sort of a riddle to her ears. There were more enemies than she thought. Whatever he meant exactly, the brunette playfully blew some smoke out of her mouth in response. Defeated by her unresponsiveness, he let out a sigh and stood up.  
"Miss Griffin has been escorted back to her room," he listened to the report received through his own earpiece. "She expects your presence before you go back to your post."  
With that, he left her on her own.

\----------

 _"I really don't understand why you had to punch him. You didn't need to go through that anyway. I'm telling you, Lexa, you need to prepare yourself, she's going to scold you this time."_  
But the brunette ignored the warning from her partner, knocked on Clarke's door, then punched in the password on the keypad device. When the door was unlocked, she found herself face-to-face with her boss who must have been waiting for her that whole time.  
"Why did you do that?" Clarke immediately interrogated, this time she wasn't soft with her words at all. But it was no threat for the bodyguard who simply stared back at her. "Answer me, Lexa, why did you punch him?"  
_"I suggest you give her an answer. We have a mission to accomplish here, Lexa. You can't lose this job."_  
So Lexa took a deep breath and replied, "I was mad."  
The other woman went silent at the answer. She couldn't grasp the idea as to why the brunette would be mad, but, well, she was a mad person anyway. Still, that shouldn't be a valid reason.  
"Why were you mad?"  
"Do I need a reason?"  
"Bellamy isn't some audio system installed in your car that you can just destroy at your will and then throw out the window."  
"I told you I was mad."  
"So why were you so mad?" the blonde frustratingly demanded for a sensible answer, her voice rising more than the usual. "Tell me because quite frankly, I don't understand your whim most of the time!"  
"I'm mad because you sneaked away from me just so you could meet up with him!" Lexa exclaimed in rage causing them both to freeze in place and quietly stare at each other. Nobody knew where that statement came from, but surprisingly, it certainly burst out from the brunette's mouth.  
_"Okay, I'll pretend that I didn't hear such a thing… because that just sounds so wrong. Like, I can't even."_  
Realizing what Anya was trying to tell her, the brunette tried to open her mouth again to come up with some more excuses – something that would sound more professional and objective, not that she was jealous by her boss' preference.  
"I'm trying to do my job here. Your mother said 'no more sneaking out' and that was exactly what you did, leaving me no idea where you had gone. We all know your mother had been kidnapped. She was able to escape but her captors are still roaming around, so what do you think your bodyguard would conclude when you just disappear without any clue at all? You might not realize this, but if something bad happens to you, I'm going to lose my job."  
_"Excellent speech, Lexa."_  
Clarke let out a small disbelieving laugh, looking down at her feet. "So it's all about you then… of course."  
There was nothing wrong with the bodyguard's answer. In fact, it was the most absolute answer to the question. However, for some reason, it disappointed the blonde. Just when she thought the bulletproof woman was starting to really care about her when she reacted in such manner, it turned out that it was all just due to some mandate that came with her job description.  
"Well, I was with my boyfriend," she looked back to that pair of dark green eyes. "You don't have to worry about losing your job when I'm with him because I know he's going to protect me anyway. I'll be in good hands… you know, for future reference with regards to my security."  
"I would be more than worried for my job whenever you're with him," the brunette muttered.  
_"Oh come on, Lexa, don't make her mad again! Just shut the fuck up."_  
"Is that supposed to be some kind of an insult?" the blonde asked, folding her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow at her.  
"I don't know what you picked up from what happened, but your stupidly precious Bobby-"  
"His name is Bellamy!" she cut off.  
"Whatever, I don't care." Lexa simply ignored the glare she got. "The point is your knight-in-phony-shining-armor can't protect you."  
"Yes, he can!" the other insisted.  
"He got beaten up by a girl," she pointed out as Anya's cheers were heard through the earpiece. "He can't even protect himself from a five-foot tall woman, that's about nine inches shorter than him, how do you think he can protect you from any other danger?"  
"What happened earlier doesn't count!"  
"Oh it does count." Suddenly, Lexa started moving towards the blonde and Clarke alarmingly had no other choice but to move backwards as her bodyguard slowly took her steps forward, showing no signs of stopping any time soon. "Hypothetically speaking, let's say… I'm the biggest threat to your life, Clarke Griffin. I'm the most dangerous person you could ever encounter in the face of the earth."  
Lexa was talking calmly and in the presumed hypothetical sense, but the blonde couldn't help but feel truthfully threatened, vulnerable, and defenseless as the other woman moved closer and closer to her.  
"My ultimate goal in this whole fucking life is to reach you, get to where you are no matter what it takes… then hurt you in every way I possibly can, perhaps, kill you in the most gruesome manner ever thought of on this fucked up planet. Let's say, it's the very purpose of my existence, the only reason I'm here - that I was made to kill you… I'm some kind of monster, supposedly indestructible, impenetrable… and this is all I have ever known to be."  
_"Lexa, you are fucking scaring the hell out of me. Stop it now!"_  
It wasn't because of Anya's appeal, her presence was long forgotten anyway, but Lexa finally stopped at her track, and so did Clarke who was holding her breath. The blonde realized that they were already standing right in the middle of the bedroom as the atmosphere was suddenly filled with silence. Clarke looked into Lexa’s dark eyes staring back at her and felt more terrified than she already was when all she could make out from them was a sense of emptiness, as if the brunette was indeed some kind of monster. No, it was worse than being a monster. It was as if this person standing right in front of her was soulless and heartless, like some kind of a dead creature.  
"I take my knife out and mercilessly stab your boyfriend," Lexa whispered as she went on with the hypothetical situation. "He's dead in an instant. So then, it's just you and me."  
Calmly, Clarke released the air she was holding onto for far too long and bravely whispered back, "So what's the point?"  
The bodyguard, without any premature warning, walked around her boss and stood right behind her. Then, slowly, she enveloped Clarke's body in a bear hug.  
"What if I hold you like this?" she asked.  
Clarke felt Lexa's arms wrapped around her body, her hands secured in a tight grip right above her stomach, her skin upon her skin, and that's when she realized how dangerously close the brunette was to her. She was so close she could feel her breath against the back of her neck, sending electricity through her spine.  
"There's no Bellamy to save you now," she heard the brunette whisper again. "Tell me... what would you do?"  
The blonde certainly knew the answer. She was supposed to do something to get away from Lexa's tight grip. She was supposed to feel endangered by the sudden threat around her. But in this moment, Clarke found herself ironically calm and steady in Lexa's arms. One touch of her skin and the terror inside her vanished. She was not supposed to feel comfortable or safe or guarded, but somehow, that was exactly what the brunette had unintentionally made her feel. Truth be told, she was so close to saying, 'I'd ask you not to let me go.'  
_"So what exactly are you two doing?"_  
Anya's curious voice was the wake-up call to Lexa's senses. Looking at their current position, she knew she had already made her point, so even before Clarke could give out an answer - to tell her not to let go - the brunette quickly pulled her hands away from her body and increased the distance between them.  
"I guess you already get the point," she said,moving away from the other person. "I’ll leave you to rest."  
Still speechless, Clarke absentmindedly nodded her head as she watched her bodyguard leave the room. What the hell just happened?

\----------

Lexa silently stood in place as Raven and Clarke exchanged goodbyes at the airport. The weekend had come and it was time for Clarke and Bellamy to fly to Las Vegas. Raven had to attend some elite party on behalf of her parents so she couldn't accompany her best friend. The brunette wouldn’t be going on the trip either as Kane's idea of suspension, with Paul taking the bodyguard duties for the special trip instead.  
"Clarke, come on, let's go."  
Bellamy who sported a bruise on his cheek impatiently grabbed his girlfriend by the hand and dragged her away from Raven. When the couple was finally out of sight, Raven turned her head towards the only companion she had left.  
"Why didn't you go with them again?"  
"I'm taking the weekend off," Lexa muttered before starting to walk away.  
"Hey!" the other rushed in front of her, stopping the brunette.  
She didn't open her mouth, but Raven knew the bodyguard was screaming 'What the hell do you want?' into her face.  
"I need to tell you something," she said. "I still hate the smell of cigarette around your atmosphere. I still hate your attitude. And I still hate your guts… but we could be friends."  
Lexa eyed her suspiciously. Was she the real Raven Reyes or just an impostor? Nevertheless, she deliberately shook her head and proceeded to head towards the exit.  
"I heard about what you did to Bellamy," Raven called out. "You can beat up my best friend's boyfriend whenever you want. I certainly have your back."  
Though Lexa went on with her departure without looking back to the other woman, somehow, they were in silent mutual agreement. It seemed Raven wasn't Lexa's enemy after all.


	7. Invaders

# 7\. Invaders

"So far this is what we've got," Octavia indicated to a display on a whiteboard beside her. "Stolen treasure, a dead Echo, an extremely secured Abigail Griffin, a top-secret and highly protected vault, and a very puzzling note left for us… not so much, actually."  
She turned towards the rest of the team, eagerly awaiting feedback.  
"Wait!" Anya frantically searched for a piece of paper where she had written the passcode to Clarke’s room. When she found it, she immediately passed it to Octavia who wrote the additional information on the whiteboard.  
"9-4-2-1-4," Octavia read the combination aloud then sighed. "We have to unlock something out of this. This has to be something… or else, it's a dead end street for all of us."  
"Kiddo, what do you think about this?" Lincoln suddenly remembered the presence of Lexa, turning to look her way. However, Lexa's mind was lost in space and she offered no response, not even a blank stare or a quick glance.  
"Lexa!"  
The woman jolted awake. She slowly shifted her eyes from the wall to Lincoln, who sensed there was something unusual about the other. Lexa Woods was never someone to be preoccupied with the unknown.  
"So do you have anything to say with this?" Octavia shot her a look.  
And the usual blank expression was back on her face as she looked back at the dark-haired girl. "Why don't we just kill her? Let's kill Abigail Griffin."  
"And that would do us what good?"  
"I don't know," she shrugged. "But that's what the note says. We'll have to kill her first. Maybe it would open us to some kind of another vault or… maybe she stuffed the treasure inside her body, and we'll have to dig it out of her… I don't know, Octavia. You're the intelligent one here, you tell me."  
"Don't be ridiculous, Lexa," the girl snorted.  
Lincoln shook his head, "As much fun as that sounds, killing her would only bring us to a real dead end. We've already lost Echo. Abigail Griffin is probably the only person left alive who can tell us where the treasure is."  
"Then what does the note mean?" Anya asked, finally concentrating on the meeting.  
"What if it doesn't mean anything?" Lexa muttered.  
"It has to mean something!" Octavia exclaimed. "Griffin knows we are after the treasure. She knows The Society will do whatever it takes to get it. She put that note there for us to see. It was intended for us."  
"Okay, but for what sort of intention?" the brunette questioned again. "She knows we're after it but this is not some sort of a friendly treasure hunt, Octavia, where the clues are intended to show us the right path. Abigail Griffin doesn't want us to find the treasure in the first place."  
"Lexa has a point," Anya agreed.  
Lincoln squinted his eyes as he contemplated on the theory. "So… are you saying she's creating a diversion?"  
Before Lexa could give a response, Octavia butted in. "She's not going to do that. Let's not forget what Echo didn't mean to let us know. ' _Abigail Griffin would wait for us and fight back_.' And let's not forget, that she used to be one of us after all. No member of Trikru is coward enough to run away from the enemy."  
The discussion came to a tentative pause. Octavia had made a good point. You don't expect a former Council member to run away just because she was too much of a coward to face the enemy. Echo would never look up to a coward.  
Remembering the last moments of her best friend once again, Octavia frowned, looking at her feet before speaking, "You have a very good point, Lexa. I must admit that. But I stand by Echo's side on this one. There is no reason for Griffin to divert us. She’s increased her security anticipating the worst to happen, for fuck's sake. I have to believe Echo died for a reason. She died for loyalty. And I'm not going to let her death go in vain."  
"Guilt," mumbled the brunette, earning a glare from Lincoln.  
He nodded towards the Octavia and assured, "And we won't."  
"Hey," Anya snapped, an idea suddenly popping into her mind after connecting all the information written on the whiteboard. "What if both points are actually correct?"  
Her teammates all turned towards her direction.  
"What if Octavia's right that this is completely intentional and Lexa's right too, that this is a diversion… or maybe, a detour to buy Griffin more time to prepare for our attack?" A victorious smirk formed on her face. "What if, for the meantime… there's one more person who can tell us where the treasure is?"  
Everybody turned towards the whiteboard, all eyes landed on the passcode written on it. 94214. In a flash, Clarke Griffin had invaded Lexa's mind again. The latest theory had put the blonde's life into danger and for some reason, this alarmed the youngest Woods so much that she found herself feeling worried for the first time in her life.

\----------

Clarke knew it. This Las Vegas trip with Bellamy and his pathetic friends was a bad idea. Really, the first few hours were great. Bellamy was nice and sweet the entire flight, he even wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and let her rest her head on his shoulder as they both slept through the journey. However, arriving at Las Vegas killed the mood. It was a good thing that she had Paul to carry her heavy luggage for her because her boyfriend never volunteered to do the job. When they got to the penthouse suite, all she did was change her clothes, and Bellamy was already gone, leaving Clarke and her temporary bodyguard.  
Later on, the blonde sat quietly by a table at _Circo_ patiently waiting for the _salmon e caviale_ pizza she ordered for lunch. Wherever Bellamy was that time, he was surely having more fun than his girlfriend. _Great_ , she was paying for a grand weekend vacation she wasn't enjoying at all, not to mention Greg's birthday party was at a strip club that she didn’t even get invited to (boys' night out, Bellamy argued). Her mother will be very thrilled if she finds out about all this. Clarke made a mental note to start getting on Paul's good side so these bad chronicles don't reach her mother's knowledge.  
So with a big grin plastered on her face, she turned to Paul who was seated at the next table and said, "Hey, Paul. If you want anything just-"  
But instead of Paul, she found herself eye-to-eye with the one and only Lexa Branson. Clarke stopped herself at mid-sentence, her grin slowly turning into a pleasantly surprised expression. She couldn't believe it, Lexa was sitting right there. The blonde would have jumped out of her seat to join her bodyguard at the other table, but then, the server came in with the pizza, blocking her view, and her gaze immediately had to follow the path of the pizza. After that several seconds, Clarke excitedly looked back at Lexa's way, but to her dismay, she found Paul keeping a watchful eye on her instead. _What the hell happened? Where's Lexa?_  
"Miss Griffin, are you alright?"  
Clarke opened her mouth to say something, but no words could come out of it.  
"Miss Griffin?"  
She swore she saw Lexa! But it would probably be a bad thing to tell Paul about that. So instead, she forced a brief sweet smile with a reassuring nod of her head before staring at the pizza on the table. God, was she really that preoccupied with Lexa's being that she was starting to see her everywhere? Frankly, she was subconsciously starting to wish the bodyguard was right there with her. Then nothing would be as bad as they seemed to be.

\----------

Lexa impatiently tore off the expensive lingerie that Costia was wearing just for the occasion, just for another night with this cold blooded woman who had swept her off of her feet. Then, the same cold blooded woman pinned her down on her bed, holding her hands into place as she explored Costia's neck with her lips, sucking and biting into her pulse. The taller brunette couldn't help but moan in pleasure, not caring at all if it would surely leave marks on her neck after this session. She wanted to let people know the moment she steps out of the room afterwards that Lexa Woods drove her to ecstasy. After all, it was the only consolation she could gain from this dirty little arrangement.  
"I want to touch you," she pleaded but as expected, Lexa only ignored the request by crashing her mouth into one of her partner's breasts. Then soon enough, her hands replaced her lips, kneading them into her palms, as she continued to trail ghostly kisses down to Costia's stomach. She flicked her tongue as she moved further down, just above where Costia needed her to be.  
"Don’t be a tease, Lexa. I need you so badly."  
The dilated eyes of the woman on top shot up to a meet lust-filled dark blue gaze. Lexa crawled up so her face was just inches away from Costia's. She felt her heart skip a beat. This had never happened before. She was anticipating for her lips to touch hers, finally for the first time ever, but the brunette didn't move any further. Instead, she slipped a finger into her partner, causing the other to jerk. She pushed another finger in, curling them expertly, sending sweet sensations all over Costia's body. She watched her partner firmly shut her eyes closed and her head tilted back along with the sound of her groans.  
Feeling her walls tighten around her fingers, Lexa pulled them out much to the other's frustration. Well, she wasn't going to let the fun end right there. The shorter brunette caressed her partner's inner thighs while she lowered her body down again, ending the movement by dipping her tongue into her partner's opening. She started off with steamy licks and kisses, but of course, Lexa Woods knew nothing but aggression, resorting to biting and sucking, hurting and pleasuring all at once.  
"Fuck," Costia whimpered, bucking her hips as she held her partner's head further into place.  
However, a thundering knock on the door caused them both to stop. Lexa sat up, turning her head towards the sudden interruption.  
"I know you two are having sex in there." Lincoln's muffled voice was heard from the other side of the door. "But I'm heading out now, kiddo. Mountain Men hunting party tonight. If you want to come, I-I mean... join me, you better get your tongue out of Costia now. I'll meet you by the car."  
Hurriedly, Costia pushed herself up to reach Lexa, stopping her from moving. She grabbed her face, pulling them together.  
"Stay," she demanded, subsequently planting kisses on the other's shoulder. "Please?"  
For some reason, instead of that curly, dark hair, Lexa saw that vibrant blonde locks flowing against her skin. She abruptly held the woman away and looked into her eyes, and to her surprise, she was looking right through Clarke's bright blue ones. She knew she shouldn't be. So, Lexa hesitantly pulled herself from the bed, away from her companion, and started putting on her black jeans.  
"I missed you," she heard Costia's desperate voice, not a certain blonde's usually cheerful one. Frankly, it was somehow a relief for the cold blooded brunette, ignoring whatever the statement implied. And she was back to her normal self, she had mastered the art of being indifferent.  
"If you can wait for me, I can fuck you later."  
"Oh I can wait, Lexa." Costia bitterly smiled at the other woman's tattoos glaring back at her. "But I'm surely going to miss you over and over while you're away."  
The young Woods let out an uncaring huff in response as she wore her black leather jacket then shook her wavy hair into place.  
"I missed you when you were away, Lexa." Costia's voice was soft and sweet, filled with so much love and sincerity. It would have liquefied anybody's wall. Unfortunately, except this woman's barriers. But Costia would try her luck anyway. "I missed your lips, the trail of kisses you leave all over my body. I missed your touch, the way I melt with the feeling of your skin upon my skin. I missed your mouth, the way you suck into my pulse, my breasts… the way you make my very soul so alive with just a single touch. I missed your teeth, your angry bites. I missed your lingering hands, your fingers dancing inside me… your tongue driving me wild and crazy. I missed the way you make me feel so wet and hot. I missed that look in your eyes, that look which tells me that you actually need me, too, Lexa… even just for a day, just for a night, or even just for as short as five minutes. I’ve never told you this… but I wish every moment I spend with you would last forever."  
Without any word, Lexa only managed to start walking towards the door.  
"I wish you would stay, Lexa," Costia hurriedly stated, giving one last try. "I wish we could cuddle after sex. I wish you would kiss me on the lips, place your hands on my face as you look into my eyes, then tell me you love me."  
Lexa simply put a cigarette in between her lips and opened the door.  
"You can wait here in my room if you want," she instructed the still naked Costia before walking out the door completely.  
Costia slowly nodded her head as tears started to slip from her eyes. She pulled the blanket to cover her naked body, but still the feeling of being so used and devalued wouldn't wear off. She looked worse than some cheap prostitute. That's what she got from loving some cold blooded monster. That's what she got from stupidly hoping that Lexa Woods would change. She was well aware about what was happening, but how do you stop yourself from loving a person you're certain you cannot live without?

\----------

Clarke wearily sat at the couch while the personnel at the _Chanel_ store presented every apparel they had available for her to choose from. It was their last day in Vegas and still, her so-called boyfriend was out there somewhere in the city enjoying every bit of this so-called vacation. It was completely unfair that Clarke wasn't having any fun at all, not even this shopping spree could lift the apparent frown off of her face.  
"Anything you like, Miss Griffin?" inquired the lady in attendance to the valued customer.  
The young woman absentmindedly looked up to the bodyguard standing by her side.  
"What do you think, Lexa?" she asked.  
The room suddenly fell silent. The lady staff eyed the man in a black suit from head to toe as if examining his physical features, making sure he was indeed a man. Paul, on the other hand, could only open his mouth slightly, not knowing how to respond to his superior.  
"Pardon, Miss Griffin?"  
That's when Clarke realized what she had just said.  
"I-I... uh..." she stuttered. "Sorry, the champagne must be getting to my head."  
She briefly lifted her glass along with some small chuckles. Besides from the fact that it was her first glass of the day, the sentence alone didn't make a good point overall. But since she's the daughter, the only child to be exact, of one of the richest man in America, the most rational thing to do for the lady staff member and the bodyguard was to join the bandwagon and join her awkward chuckles.  
"I'd love to see more of this collection, please?" the blonde finally demanded, diverting all the attention from the previous uncomfortable pause. In a snap, the _Chanel_ personnel swiftly left the room to gather more apparel.  
That awkward pause Clarke was trying to dissolve in time was then immediately forgotten, but much to her apprehension, her mind was still invaded by that certain brunette she'd been constantly thinking about since parting ways at the airport. She didn't want to admit that part of the truth, but it had been a couple of days without Lexa and surprisingly, the feeling of it was becoming too unbearable. Never mind the fact that she wasn't supposed to be looking for another bodyguard when she had the company of Paul, she was going to ask for Lexa.  
"Hey, Paul?" she turned to the man in black suit once more, her hesitation clear. The bodyguard quickly paid full attention to the young woman. "Where did Lexa spend the weekend?"  
Shocked by the query, the man shrugged his shoulders. "Well… from what I've heard she's going home, Miss."  
"Home," Clarke repeated. All of a sudden, she was trying to picture what kind of home Lexa Branson had. "Does that mean she had to surrender her earpiece for the meantime?"  
Paul nodded his head in affirmation.  
"Okay," her voice trailed off.  
"Something wrong, Miss Griffin?"  
Clarke chewed on her lower lip, contemplating whether she should ask him what she's been dying to know since they arrived at Las Vegas.  
"Do you have… B-Lexa's number?"  
Again, for the second time, Paul was caught off guard and could only resort to another shrug as an immediate response.  
"I don't think she has a phone, Miss." Paul shook his head apologetically. "I heard she only requested for the communication device, insisting it was all she needed. Besides, I don't see her ever using one."  
No phone? Is that even possible in this day and age of technological development? Okay, it's official, Lexa Branson was the weirdest person Clarke had ever met in her entire life. Nevertheless, the blonde nodded her head slowly along with a forced smile on her lips for Paul's sake. Good thing the _Chanel_ people were finally back. She could just hide her disappointment by trying the clothes on.

\----------

 _Feeling used, but I’m,_  
_Still missing you, and I can’t,_  
_See the end of this,_  
_Just wanna feel your kiss,_  
Lincoln shifted his body his to face Lexa who was quietly seated in the driver's seat of the Aston Martin Volante, parked outside of a convenient store. His mouth was wide open and his face was distorted in complete confusion and bewilderment. Why on earth was the grouchy and too badass Lexa Woods listening to this kind of music?  
_Against my lips,_  
_And now all this time,_  
_Is passing by,_  
_But I still can’t seem to tell you why,_  
_It hurts me every time I see you,_  
_Realize how much I need you._  
He knew there was something wrong, but he never knew it was this bad. Was she even conscious that Anya's playlist was blasting through the new audio system installed into her car?  
_I hate you, I love you,_  
_I hate that I love you,_  
_Don’t want to, but I can’t put,_  
_Nobody else above you._  
Lexa's thoughts were somewhere far from where they should be. Maybe it was the song playing in her sub-consciousness that she wasn't even totally aware of in the first place, but she found herself thinking about a particular blonde once again. She wondered what Clarke was doing in Las Vegas. She wondered if Bellamy was treating her right, if he was making her feel happy, drawing a smile on her face. She wondered if Clarke's thinking of her too or maybe just pleased that she wasn't there with her. No annoying Lexa 'the bodyguard' Branson trailing behind her all the time.  
Then, she wondered whether or not Clarke needed saving? Would Bobby, or whatever his name was, protect her? Could Paul handle the danger all by himself? She was starting to get anxious, the feeling of following them to Las Vegas beginning to be an option to Lexa. However, she stopped herself from these thoughts when she realized the danger was, in fact, her. Lexa Woods was the only threat to Clarke Griffin's life. And so as long as she stayed away from the girl, she was just going to be alright. That was the painful truth.  
"The second verse is about to start!" Lincoln exclaimed, pushing Lexa slightly. "Lexa!"  
"What?"  
_I hate you, I love you_  
_I hate that I lo-_  
Realizing the music playing, Lexa carelessly threw a punch towards the newly-installed audio system, pulled it off, and disposed it out of the window.  
"And she's back," the older guy muttered, eyeing the enraged woman.  
"What the fuck was that, Lincoln?"  
Lincoln simply shrugged in response.  
"Why was that crappy song playing in my car?"  
"In my defense, you were listening, too," he pointed out.  
"No," Lexa firmly shook her head.  
Lincoln paused for a moment as the two were caught up just staring at one another's eyes trying to figure out what was happening. Lexa kept the usual straight face that was all too familiar, but suddenly the other started laughing. He rolled back in his seat, holding on to his stomach, trying to contain the fit of laughter that wouldn't stop, causing the brunette to grit her teeth as she clenched the steering wheel.  
"Will you stop laughing?" she demanded, but the older man just couldn’t stop. She hated laughter especially when she didn't know what was actually funny. All she was left to do was to purse her lips together and let out a heavy sigh, waiting until the atmosphere would be filled with silence once again.  
As Lincoln’s laughter finally died down two minutes later, he turned to the girl, a playful grin sitting on his lips.  
"Oh my god, you miss her."  
"No."  
"You. Miss her."  
"No, I don't," Lexa insisted.  
Lincoln sighed as he leaned back in his seat.  
"Come on, it's just the two of us. Bonding moment. Admit it, kiddo, you miss her."  
"I already told you, Lincoln. I don't miss that blonde monster."  
The older slowly turned his eyes to Lexa once again, this time beaming victoriously.  
"Nobody mentioned about that blonde monster."  
Defeated and annoyed at the same time, Lexa let out another long huff, looking blankly straight ahead.  
"There's nothing wrong about missing her, you know." Lincoln shrugged his shoulders. "Well… except from the fact that you shouldn't be."  
"I don't miss her. I don't miss anybody. I don't care. I don't give a shit about anything or anyone."  
Lincoln casually nodded his head, "Okay."  
Then, there was a minute of silence.  
"I'm right by your side," he courageously penetrated the wall of tranquility between him and the brunnette all of a sudden. "I don't want you to ever forget that, kiddo."  
Lexa turned to look at him, but no words slipped from her mouth. She simply looked back into his eyes.  
"I know how much you believe in the principles of The Secret Society," Lincoln continued. "You grew up to Gustus's teachings and it doesn't surprise me at all that you’ve turned out to be this kind of… ruthless beast. Everybody's afraid of you, Lexa. You'll kill anybody whenever you deem it necessary. Sometimes, even I, myself, tend to forget that you're still a human being."  
"Get to the point, Lincoln."  
Lincoln took a deep breath and smiled at her.  
"More than part of Trikru, I am your brother, Lexa. I trust you do the right thing. But no matter how the tide turns, you should know that you will always have me on your side of the game."  
Lexa briefly nodded her head before returning her gaze to the entrance of the convenient store.  
"Then we're both on the side of Trikru," she concluded. "Fidelity, right?"  
"Right," he muttered.  
After some time, they finally spotted their target. A blonde woman, holding onto a dark-colored suitcase walked out of the convenient store. As expected, she stood cautiously waiting for a guy she was supposed to meet up with.  
"Change of plan," Lexa declared. "I'm going in, you'll drive."  
"Sure."  
With that, they both got out off the car. While Lincoln circled around the convertible towards the driver's seat, Lexa nonchalantly walked towards the blonde woman. As she got closer and closer to her, she noticed that the woman had the same shade of blonde locks that Clarke Griffin had. Coincidentally as well, the woman almost had the same shade of blue in her eyes. The height and built were closely similar, too. Lexa was glad she was still making her way towards the target. She wasn't stopping at all. In fact, she was acting like her usual self.  
"Donna Jenkins?"  
"Yes?"  
"Thanks for the cash."  
Without hesitation, Lexa pulled out her pocket knife and plunged it into the woman's stomach. In shocked by the sudden turn of events, Donna Jenkins held Lexa's arms as she fell. The brunette kept the knife in place as she looked directly into those light blue eyes. For a moment, Clarke's face flashed before her, and more so than ever, she required herself to feel nothing. She twisted the knife in her body before pulling it out of the flesh along with the suitcase from the loosened grip, then moved backwards approaching the gray Aston Martin Volante waiting for her. But as she did, she kept her gaze strictly on the dying person in front of her, that woman who looked almost exactly like Clarke. So that's how it would feel like to kill Clarke Griffin? Supposedly, she should feel nothing. Just in case she had to do it in the future, killing Donna Jenkins was good practice.

\----------

"I don't trust her, madam."  
Kane stood straight as he answered his boss' question. His face had never been this serious and self-assured.  
"And why is that?" asked Abigail Griffin.  
"I find everything about her suspicious, madam. I am not convinced by the profile we found."  
"But she's doing her bodyguard job very well, Kane."  
That last statement made the head of security shut his mouth.  
"Okay," Griffin sighed. "I am not dismissing your idea, but next time you report back, you better find some rational evidence that could prove your theory. Until then, Lexa Branson will be reporting for duty."  
"Yes, madam."  
Abby flicked her hand, signaling the man to leave, but Kane remained in his original position.  
"Madam, are you sure we are still sticking to the plan?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"You have a battalion of security, madam. I don't understand why you would keep a secret to yourself. You are at liberty to make use of us at your own convenience."  
Abby let out a small chuckle.  
"The thing about secrets, Kane, is that the fewer people involved the easier it is. Just stick to the plan… guard your assigned posts… keep your eyes wide open… and Gustus Woods shall fail."  
Suddenly, the door to the home office was opened revealing Lexa Branson fresh from her weekend off being escorted by two other guards. Kane threw a dirty look at her, but the brunette simply stared at his face as she made her way to Abigail Griffin. She stopped right next to where the head of security was standing, only the main office desk positioned between her and the older woman.  
"Leave her with me," she instructed and so the rest of the security group had no other choice but to obey the order, leaving Lexa behind in the home office.  
_"Don't be too sharp, Lexa. You're supposed to be inferior to her."_ Anya coached.  
"Clarke said you're serious about your job," the woman started. "I must say I am very impressed. You are doing an excellent job protecting my daughter, Branson."  
_"Congratulations."_  
Lexa could only nod her head.  
"After we pick her up from the airport, you're back to being a full-time bodyguard. I hope you're ready."  
"I am, madam."  
Abigail briefly tore tore away her eye contact, contemplating if she should proceed with what she was originally planning to tell the brunette.  
"There are people, dangerous people, who would try everything to get me. I don't care if they do ever reach me. I am just scared for my daughter. She's caught up in this mess because of me. So, Branson, I just really need you to protect her. We can have a little agreement: protect Clarke until all of this is over and I shall reward you with anything you want."  
_"Can't she just hand the treasure over now?"_  
"What if I fail, madam?"  
Anya didn't know, but Lexa needed to know the answer. She needed to know the consequence of not being able to protect Clarke. To her surprise, Abigail Griffin only put a smile on display.  
"Don't worry. When everything else fails, I'll still be here to protect my daughter. They'll have to _kill me first_ before they get to Clarke."  
And just like that, Lexa wished she’d never asked. Lexa wished Abigail Griffin didn't answer… because then, she heard Anya's excited voice.  
_"Jackpot. It's Clarke."_


	8. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really happy that lots of people are enjoying the story so far :) Thanks for the support

# 8\. Friends

Lexa silently stood while Clarke, newly-arrived from her trip to Las Vegas during the weekend, unpacked her things on the bed. It was already uncomfortable enough that she was simply standing there doing nothing when she should be out there in the hallway guarding her post, but for some inexplicable reason, the blonde had asked her to stay. In fact, it was the first thing Clarke had told her since she got back from the so-called vacation. So really, Lexa had no other choice but to watch over the young woman as she cheerfully unpacked. Lexa remembered the look on Clarke's face at the airport before the couple left for Vegas. She could never forget the gloom in her eyes, but then, suddenly, Clarke Griffin was back and glowing once again.  
The most rational explanation, Lexa figured, would be Bellamy's unusual sense of romance towards his lady love. Before parting ways at the airport earlier, in the presence of the rich and powerful Abigail Griffin, Bobby or whatever his name was, planted a sweet goodbye kiss on Clarke's lips followed by one long embrace. It was so unusual that the element of shock was evident even on his girlfriend's face. Her mother didn't notice, but her official bodyguard did. She did notice, because Lexa had been attentively watching everything about the blonde.  
"Lastly," Clarke popped the brunette’s bubble of thoughts as she stood from the bed and turned towards her bodyguard, enthusiastically smiling at her. "Of course, I have something for you, too."  
_"Aww, that's so sweet."_  
But the brunette didn't show any sign of gratitude, appreciation, or surprise at all. She simply fixed her eyes on the grinning woman.  
"It's not much," the blonde said, looking into her personal luggage for the gift she neatly placed inside just before leaving the elegant Bellagio hotel. "I didn't know what you would like, so I just decided to get you a shirt… okay, here it is… but close your eyes first."  
Lexa didn't make a move, and so her boss immediately shot her a look.  
"Come on, Lexa, just close your eyes."  
_"Close your eyes!"_  
Left with no other choice, Lexa took a deep breath and closed her eyes as instructed. For a moment, without the knowledge of her bodyguard, Clarke let herself smile at this sight of Lexa Branson - the sight of this naturally uncanny person who was suddenly at peace, vulnerable, and innocent. She could just stare at her all day in honesty, but she knew that this unplanned moment needed to end quickly, so she picked up the shirt and proudly held it up.  
"You can open your eyes now."  
_"Is it cool? Is it cool? Say something. Say something, Lexa!"_  
Lexa opened her eyes and found herself gawking at the shirt in its full front view. It was very simple, actually. It only had the usual _Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada_ design on display, but what gave Lexa shock was the color of the shirt. It was yellow – the brightest kind she had ever imagined.  
"What the fuck is this?"  
"This," Clarke smirked at the shirt she was holding, "is what normal people call 'yellow', Lexa."  
Suddenly, Anya erupted into a fit of laughter.  
_"She got you a yellow shirt? Oh we definitely need to take a picture of you wearing that."_  
"I'm not going to wear that," the brunette quickly indicated making her blonde boss groan in complete frustration.  
"Lexa, come on. Would you put some colour into your boring and despicable black world? I seriously think it's going to look good on you."  
But the other simply shook her head firmly to assert her disapproval.  
"Well," the other sighed, lowering her gaze down to her bare feet, her initial feeling of enthusiasm slowly turning into a shade of melancholy due to her bodyguard's direct refusal. "Back at the store, Paul said this shirt reminded him of my bright personality because of the colour… I just thought it would have the same effect on you."  
_"And what exactly does she mean by that?"_  
For one last bargain, the blonde offered, "Could you please at least try it on? Try it on and if you still don't like it, then I won't push anymore."  
_"Aww. Come on, Lexa. How can you resist that charm?"_  
Clarke nervously bit on her lower lip as she took in the emerald eyes staring directly back at her. She tried to search for any sign of mercy in them, even just the tiniest amount of mercy. But no, Lexa Branson just wouldn't give her that. So the young woman let out another defeated sigh as she dropped her arms, still holding the shirt.  
"Okay, forget that I even bought you a gift."  
She was about to turn on her heels and throw it on her bed, but then she felt Lexa's soft touch upon her skin for the second time in her life. Incredibly, it still felt the same. It still felt indescribable.  
Startled, Clarke quickly shifted her gaze from the hand compellingly holding her arm to Lexa's softened eyes. She was so mesmerized by the rare occasion – the appearance of the uncommon look in her eyes – that she didn't even notice that the brunette, with her other hand, had slowly pulled the garment from her loose grip already.  
"It's rude to take a gift back," the brunette whispered as she gradually let go of her boss's arm, but still maintained their eye contact.  
_"Of course, you're the expert on Rude 101."_  
Lost in the moment, Clarke could only match the low volume of Lexa's voice.  
"So, would you try it on now?"  
Without warning, Lexa started taking her black leather jacket off causing discomfort to the other person present in the room.  
"What are you doing?" the blonde abruptly questioned, realizing what was about to unfold before her very eyes.  
_"What are you doing to her again, Lexa?"_  
But the woman in question kept her mouth shut, not bothering to answer any of the inquiries from both ladies. She gave her boss one last look as she dropped the leather jacket down to the floor, and then held onto the hem of her inner shirt, ready to pull it off of her body. In discomfort, Clarke deliberately made her bodyguard turn around, pushing her towards the direction of the bathroom, but her efforts were already too late. Lexa had removed her black shirt, leaving her upper body only covered by her bra, her tattoos on full display. The blonde immediately stopped, disoriented by the sight of the most stunning art she has ever seen. If only that stupid remaining piece of clothing would stop blocking the full view.  
"Wow..." was all she could utter.  
_"Let me guess, you're nude now and she's staring at your awesome tattoos."_  
Still, Lexa didn't say a word. Not wanting to give the other the opportunity to formulate a question on the newly-revealed piece of her life, she subsequently put the yellow shirt on covering up the tattoo, and then turned around to face her boss once again.  
"There," she said. "Happy now?"  
Slowly, Clarke's lips curved into a genuine sneer. This was definitely a miracle - Lexa Branson wearing a yellow Las Vegas shirt.  
"Why did you buy me this?" asked the brunette, curiously.  
Again, the blonde nervously chewed on her lip as she gave her answer.  
"I was hoping you'd remember me whenever you wear it."  
_"Okay, you know, that kind of sounds like something..."_  
Lexa chose to brush the theory off and let out a huff before gathering her discarded clothes from the carpeted floor.  
"Paul informed me that you're probably tired from the trip, so I'll let you get some rest now."  
Instead of ratifying the idea, Clarke immediately stood in front of the brunette woman, stopping her from proceeding to the only exit out of the bedroom.  
"C-Can you not stay?" she hesitantly inquired, earning a questioning look from the bodyguard. "I didn't get to see you or talk to you for the entire weekend. I-I'm just _wondering_ if… you know, we could… catch up?."  
_"Lexa and Clarke sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"_  
Shocked by the sudden request, Lexa couldn't arrange a response to that, let alone process Anya's silly song quietly and mockingly playing in her earpiece. Nevertheless, to make things a lot easier for all of them, she simply followed Clarke out to the balcony where the beautiful landscape of the backyard garden along with the outdoor pool was in view below. Lexa stood next to the blonde and watched another smile on her lips.  
"You know, I spent the weekend thinking about a lot of things," the girl told her, but her eyes were directed at the blue sky above them. "I've been preoccupied with Bellamy, Raven, my mom, the danger she's been trying to protect me from…"  
_"Keep her talking. This is your chance, Lexa."_  
"What about your mom?" Lexa quickly asked.  
Clarke shrugged her shoulders before answering. "Ever since she returned from being kidnapped, she's been extra careful about everything. Although, I guess I can't blame her. People out there would probably kill us if we didn’t put up these walls."  
"Why would they kill you?"  
"I don't know," the blonde shook her head along with a confused expression on her face. "I just know my mom did something terrible."  
_"She knows something."_  
Lexa was fully aware that an elaboration of the statement would only put Clarke's life into more danger than it was already in, especially with Anya listening through the spy communication device.  
"Are you scared?" she asked instead.  
"I used to be," Clarke nodded her head before turning to the bodyguard standing next to her. "But now I feel safer than ever."  
"Why is that?"  
The blonde let out a small smile and replied, "Because from now on, I have you… all the time… '24/7, in fact'." She quoted Lexa's original words  
_"I… I-I'm not sure how to feel about this, Lexa."_  
"I have you and I feel like nobody can ever hurt me," Clarke added.  
_"If only she knew you're one of those people who want to hurt her."_  
Clarke took a deep breath then shifted her entire body to face the brunette who had been unresponsive the whole time.  
"You may be the creepiest person I've ever met, Lexa, but surprisingly, I've never felt this safe with anybody else."  
"Not even with your boyfriend?" Lexa heard herself inquire.  
The blonde slowly shook her head.  
"Not even."  
Lexa Branson was beyond speechless. Not even Anya could utter a word.  
"You know what's funny?" Clarke let out a soft chuckle. "That I trust you with my whole life, yet I know _nothing_ about you."  
Clarke paused to give the other person a chance to talk, but she spoke no words, so the blonde continued with her statement.  
"I understand Kane for being so suspicious of you. Nobody knows where you came from. You just… appeared in our lives one day. You could be an alien from Mars, you know." She let out another chuckle at her weird hypothesis, but she checked on Lexa and still she wasn't making any reaction. "I don't know where you live. I don't know if you have people counting on you. I don't know anything about your personal life or your past. I don't know how you've become this person that you are now. I just know… you're Lexa Branson."  
_"Unfortunately, Lexa Branson is another lie. And she sadly doesn't know that either."_  
"Lexa?" Clarke called for her attention causing the brunette to finally leave her bubble of thoughts. "I want to meet people in your life."  
"What?" the other croaked.  
_"What exactly is she trying to do here?"_  
"I want to meet your family or your friends," the blonde expanded on the idea. "I want to be a part of your world, Lexa. I want you to let me in."  
Lexa Branson was dumbfounded by all these bizarre words coming from her boss' mouth. To be honest, this girl had been driving her insane since the story behind the yellow shirt. Too much information to process and handle, Lexa couldn't articulate proper responses.  
At Lexa’s lack of reply, Clarke simply added, "That's an order."  
_"Looks like the rest of the team will be going undercover too!"_  
While Anya excitement could be heard, Clarke dragged her bodyguard, in her most promising state of a very quiet cricket, back to the bedroom, making a halt at the foot of the bed. Again, the blonde looked into her personal luggage while Lexa followed her every move with her eyes. Then after some time, Clarke pulled out a small black box containing an expensive, brand new phone and handed it over to the brunette.  
"That's for you," she casually declared.  
_"What is it?"_  
"What is this?" questioned Lexa, confusion painted all over her face.  
"It's a phone, idiot."  
_"She bought you a phone, Lexa?"_  
Anya's loud gasps soon invaded Lexa's left ear.  
"I know it's a phone, but why are you giving this to me?"  
The blonde shrugged her shoulders and sheepishly replied, "I heard you don't have a phone. Just in case they ever suspend you again without your earpiece, I still want to be able to reach you."  
But Lexa was still wearing a questioning look on her face.  
Clarke sighed. "I just really hate the feeling of missing you."  
_"Pretending I didn't hear a thing."_  
The brunette immediately opened her mouth to say something, but Clarke already went back to unpacking her things, signaling the end of their conversation with that thought-provoking statement. So the bodyguard was left on her own discretion. She sighed at the gift in her hand, not to mention the yellow shirt she was still wearing. Still not able to process everything in her head, she left the room without a word, leaving the blonde to glance at the closed door as if struggling to adjust to the sudden absence of the other.  
An addition to the things that Clarke Griffin didn't know about was that Lexa, both Branson and Woods, really hated the feeling of missing the blonde too. Frankly, she didn't even need the yellow shirt to remind her. Those bright blue eyes invaded her thoughts constantly.

\----------

Lincoln stood between the two bald men who worked directly for Gustus, as they escorted him to the Command Room where the group leader was already waiting, expecting his arrival. The younger man threw annoyed looks towards the direction of his escorts before directing his eyes to Gustus, who was seated by the desk. He waited for the old man to speak, but he simply smoked on his cigarette as if no visitor had arrived into his quarters.  
"So what am I doing here?" Lincoln asked.  
"You should as quiet as Lexa, you know. You always forget that your job here is to follow orders. I make the demands, Lincoln."  
The younger man sighed at the customary comparison to Lexa.  
"The special mission is very crucial to the organization," the group leader started. "Lexa cannot fail."  
"She won't fail," Lincoln guaranteed confidently. "Lexa never fails, does she?"  
Gustus inhaled on his cigarette then let out one long blow of smokes through his mouth before finally turning his eyes to the person in view.  
"She’s been working slower than the usual, don't you think?"  
At first, Lincoln was dazed at the unexpected reflection, but then he started chuckling upon the realization of the ridiculousness of the context.  
"You have to be kidding me," he said, still stifling a laugh.  
Gustus immediately threw a dirty look at him.  
"Do I ever joke, Lincoln?"  
"Of all people, you suspect Lexa to betray the organization?"  
The other didn't answer. He simply stared blankly at him. Upon realizing he was indeed serious about the raised suspicion, Lincoln's face suddenly turned into a frown.  
"Really, Gustus? That's what you think?" He angrily slammed his hands on the desk, his words were filled with so much anger that Gustus’ two men were on their way to restrain the young man, but their boss lifted his hand to stop them. "Lexa has proven her fidelity to Trikru more than anybody here has!"  
Still, Gustus kept his mouth shut.  
"She _killed_ her own mother, for fuck's sake!" the younger man screamed into Gustus’ face. "She killed her mother just so she could join this fucking organization! And you still think she would be a traitor? Isn't that enough for you?"  
A smirk silently appeared on Gustus's pair of lips.  
"Oh I'll never forget the look on Lexa’s when she killed Veronica."  
Lincoln gritted his teeth at the other's amusement.  
"She was _your_ sister."  
"I know," Gustus coolly nodded his head. "Still, she couldn't understand what was at stake here. 'We're doing fine, Gustus. Just let the system be,' she said. Well, the system is too fucked up already, somebody has to fix it. Lexa could fix it, you know… but Veronica kept on standing in the way. She needed to go, Lincoln."  
The other firmly shook his head in frustration and pushed himself up, ready to leave the room.  
"Well, it's not really Lexa I'm worried about. It's you. And your influence on her."  
That stopped Lincoln in his tracks. Without looking back, he waited for clarification. He knew there was something more about that revelation and he needed to hear it.  
"I wish you could be more like her. I want you to watch Lexa and learn from her, let her be a good example to you, not the other way around. I need you to be on the same boat with her, Lincoln. I already know which side Lexa is on… but what about you?"  
Startled for a moment, Lincoln finally managed to confidently declare, "Fidelity to Trikru."  
Satisfied but not truly convinced by the answer, Gustus nodded his head.  
"You're one of my best, but I have to remind you that the code is Fidelity to Trikru… not Fidelity to someone else. It's _just_ Trikru."  
And Lincoln could only nod his head in response.  
"Lexa and I will be on the same boat. Don't worry about that."  
With that, Lincoln left the premise of the room, his track silently followed by his leader’s gaze.  
"So is he clear now, boss?" one of the guards inquired.  
"Just keep an eye on him," answered Gustus, lighting up another cigarette. "I know he's already watching over Lexa, but with motives and intentions that are contrary to mine. Lincoln has his tendencies. I can't afford anybody corrupting the mind of my best weapon. Abigail Griffin is going down. Lexa will bring him down. And if Lincoln tries to stop her, you know what to do, boys."  
The two guards exchanged pleased looks at the new task at hand.  
"Kill him if necessary."

\----------

In spite of Raven's assertion, the initial plan to go to a fancy restaurant for everyone to meet was abandoned and settled with a lunch date at a local diner per Anya's request through Lexa. The entire seating arrangement was making Lexa highly uncomfortable and obviously irritated as she was sandwiched between Clarke and Anya in the semi-circle booth. The equally annoyed Raven sat next to her best friend while Anya had Octavia by her side.  
"So what else do you want, guys?" Clarke was all smiles when she turned to the rest of the group after ordering more food than necessary for all of them. "Please order anything you like."  
"Are you going to pay?" Anya innocently inquired. At this Lexa shot her a look.  
"I'm just asking."  
But the blonde just eagerly nodded her head towards the dark-haired woman.  
"Yes, of course. Just order anything you like."  
Octavia suddenly had an embarrassed look on her face.  
"You should not have said that. Now she's going to-"  
"Give me a little bit of everything," Cutting Octavia off, Anya told the waitress, who was taken aback at the unusual order. She then turned to Clarke who simply smiled positively at her in response. "And a Diet Coke, please? I don't want to get too fat."  
Raven deliberately rolled her eyes in annoyance. Lexa's so-called friends were already getting on her nerves. Why on earth did she agree to come to this meetup?  
"I'm fine with what you ordered," Octavia shyly glanced at the blonde.  
"Raven?" Clarke turned to her best friend.  
"Do you have anything here that won't give me a heart attack?"  
"Caesar Salad," Clarke simply answered on behalf of the waitress, not wanting to cause any more inconvenience. "And just give her sparkling water."  
The waitress nodded her head then directed her eyes towards the quiet brunette, "You?"  
Everybody turned their attention to Lexa as if her order would matter to the whole world. She slightly lifted her head and directed her sharp eyes to the waitress who suddenly wanted to leave that particular booth, and said, "Water."  
The waitress frantically wrote it down and left for the kitchen in a hurry. The booth was immediately filled with awkward silence causing the Clarke to become restless with the current atmosphere.  
"Um, Lexa, aren't you going to introduce us to one another?" Clarke turned to her bodyguard, desperate for the commencement of a conversation.  
Lexa let out a heavy sigh and muttered, "You are all old enough to do that without my supervision."  
While Octavia laughed at the retort, Clarke shook her head in disapproval. Her best friend rolled her eyes once again.  
"I'm Clarke, and this is my best friend, Raven."  
She put on another charming smile as she extended her hand to the Anya who stared at the hand at first but powerfully shook it in the end anyway.  
"I'm Anya."  
"And I'm Octavia," the girl beside Anya introduced herself, offering a friendly smile at Clarke. "Thank you so much for inviting us."  
But even before Clarke could make any response, a tall and handsome young man sporting his trademark grin stood by the booth and playfully ran his eyes over the group before him.  
"I know I'm late, but you don't need to scowl at me, Lexa."  
Clarke immediately turned to her sulking bodyguard with a questioning look while her best friend had dropped her jaw at the man stood by the table.  
"Lincoln!"  
As everyone shuffled to make room for him to sit down, Raven introduced herself with adequate confidence and a little too magisterial than necessary.  
"The name is Raven. Raven Reyes. My family owns several businesses all over the country."  
In response Lincoln flashed a friendly smile towards her and briefly shook her hand.  
"I'm Lincoln. Oh, and our family doesn't contribute as much as yours to the capitalist industry."  
Taking this as a cue, Clarke stood up to introduce herself also.  
"I'm Clarke. Please don't mind my best friend, she's just... being her usual self, but she's great."  
"Oh so you're the famous Clarke Griffin." Lincoln shook her hand as he threw quick mocking glances at Lexa. "Wow, kiddo. You never told us that your boss is actually quite beautiful. I've heard lots of stories about you, Clarke."  
Lexa huffed silently in her seat.  
Suddenly, the blonde blushed at the confession. "I couldn't imagine Lexa telling stories about me. It's pretty hard to squeeze a word from her, you know."  
"Oh she talked about you the entire weekend."  
"He's lying," the brunette spoke the truth. Well, everybody had been listening to all the recorded conversations saved in Anya's laptop.  
"Please have a seat," Clarke said.  
"Here," Raven quickly offered the seat next to her. "There's plenty of room right here, you can sit next to me, Lincoln."  
But Lincoln made his way towards the space next to Octavia. "That's so nice of you, Raven, but I only sit next to this lovely lady."  
Raven was initially taken aback by the decision. No man had ever rejected her. However, she managed to flash a fake understanding smile before taking her seat. To add more fuel to the fire, Octavia threw a grin towards the girl.  
"1-0."  
Good thing the first set of food was served at the table, otherwise Raven would have given the other a good fight.  
"So what exactly are we doing here?" Lincoln needed to ask.  
"Well," Clarke nervously shrugged her shoulders. It felt like being interrogated by your in-laws. "Just a little get-together or something."  
"Do you normally do this with your other bodyguards?" asked Anya.  
Clarke paused for a moment, not knowing what would be the proper answer to that question. Everybody had their eyes on her including her best friend, and it started to feel like being in a hot seat.  
"Lexa is the only personal bodyguard I've ever had. It was my mother's idea in the first place."  
"So all of a sudden your mother thinks you immediately need a bodyguard?"  
"Well... it's kind of hard to explain..."  
"You can try."  
The blonde sighed. "You've probably heard about it on the news. My mom got kidnapped a few weeks ago and so she just wants to make sure that we are very well protected."  
"Why would people kidnap your mom?"  
"I-I... M-My mom is..." Clarke was starting to stammer, struggling to answer the questions that just kept on coming from Lexa's friends.  
"What does your mom do exactly?" Octavia innocently posted a more basic question for her.  
"I-I don't want to sound like a show-off, but my mom owns a multinational corporation... Sky Corporation. Maybe you, guys, have heard of it. Here and abroad, they own hotels, malls, resorts, airlines and aircraft manufacture, restaurant chains-"  
"Yes, of course, we've heard about Sky Corporation," Lincoln agreed, cutting her off in the process. "It's a very big corporation, indeed. Your family must be very, _very_ wealthy. The government should be earning millions of taxes from your mom alone... but would lose more if there's… perhaps, a hidden wealth somewhere else. A hidden wealth that your mom doesn't want people to discover."  
Clarke opened her mouth to respond, but she was already too overwhelmed by the implications of the entire statement. Luckily again, the rest of the meal was served to the table, rendering more time to think about her response. However, she instantly remembered the purpose of this lunch date. She wanted to get to know Lexa. She wanted to know the different aspects of her bodyguard's life. Instead, without even realizing, she was the one already being interrogated on the spot.  
"Could we all please eat in peace?" Lexa, for the third time she spoke, came to her rescue, fishing out an onion ring to eat. And as if her words were the words of a supreme being, Lincoln, Octavia, and Anya all shut their mouths and proceeded with eating their lunch. Clarke and Raven could only express their shock at how much these people respected the notorious brunette.

\----------

Clarke couldn't believe it. This time, she couldn't even trace which question it all began with, but she was being grilled by Lexa's friends once again. She was positive she did ask a question about her bodyguard, but along the way, it became a version of 21 questions about Clarke Griffin's personal life. She'd been asked about her mother and their lifestyle before, but surprisingly, these three were posting trickier queries than magazines ever do. Anyhow, Clarke tried to answer as best as she could. For the first time ever, she was secretly thankful that Lexa was a quiet cricket who didn't say any word or ask any question. She simply went from one dish to another until her glass of water was finally empty.  
"Hey, it's my father's birthday in a few days," Raven stated, directing her eyes at Lincoln. "He's throwing a party, of course. Would you like to come?"  
"Sure."  
Lincoln ignored that blank stare from Lexa, and smiled at the dark-haired girl.  
"Give me your address, I'll be sending you the invitation."  
"Just send it through Lexa."  
"I'm coming too then," Octavia butted in.  
Raven glared at the other. "But I'm not inviting you."  
"It's okay, Octavia." Lincoln turned to her. "I'll be fine."  
While Octavia gasped in disbelief, Raven wore a victorious grin and muttered, "I guess we're tied to 1."  
Sensing a catfight between the two was about to happen, Lincoln stood up and moved away from the table.  
"Who wants to go check out that jukebox?"  
Hurriedly, the two brunettes shot up from their respective seats and followed the man to the huge musical box at the other end of the diner leaving the normally quiet Lexa, amused Anya, and Clarke who was slowly dying from silent treatment.  
Suddenly, Lexa let out a heavy sigh and stood up as well.  
"Where are you going?" Anya asked  
"I'm going to the ladies' room, Anya, you wanna come?"  
Was that a question she needed to answer? Nevertheless, Anya stayed in her seat and played with the remaining fries on her plate. _This is it_ , Clarke concluded. This was the only opportunity she could have to execute her motives for this lunch date.  
"Hey Anya," she put on her friendliest smile for the other.  
"Yes?"  
"To tell you honestly, I asked Lexa to invite you, guys, because I wanted to get to know her," she explained and Anya nodded in understanding, trying desperately to contain her inner laughter. "She's entrusted with my life, but she remains a mystery to me."  
Anya finally let out a small laugh. "How ironic. People think Lexa's a mystery when in fact she's very transparent. What you see is what you get, that's Lexa."  
But Clarke needed more.  
"If she hates you, she's not going to hide that. She may not utter a word, but she'll definitely be generous with death glares and that's way scarier, believe me."  
"And if she likes you?"  
"That's the thing. Lexa never likes anybody."  
"Has she...has she never had a relationship with someone?"  
Before answering, Anya debated whether she should but then cautiously looked around to make sure Lexa was out of the proximity of the conversation.  
"She has a fuck buddy," she replied in a whisper. "I think you could consider that a type of relationship."  
"Fuck buddy," Clarke repeated just to make sure.  
"If you really want to have some form of relationship with Lexa, then I’m sorry for you. Being her fuck buddy is your highest possible connection. And she gets to pleasure you almost all the time. I have a list of girls who can testify to that, most recently Costia."  
"Why doesn’t Lexa just make this Costia her girlfriend?"  
Anya couldn't help but laugh at the idea.  
"Girlfriend means you kiss her on the lips; Lexa doesn't do that. Kissing is an expression of love or something; and Lexa doesn't _fall in love_. Therefore, your proposal would be absurd because that wouldn't be Lexa at all."  
"What if she changes?"  
"I've known Lexa for a lifetime, Clarke. This is just the way she is. She's just ruthless, cold blooded, and callous. And nobody could ever change that. I’m sorry but it’s a lost cause Clarke."  
So that's Lexa. Clarke was digging in too hard, and she didn't realize she had already seen everything Lexa could offer.  
"Your mother’s executive assistant called," Lexa suddenly appeared, her eyes were directed to Clarke. She didn't look furious so Anya figured she was safe. "You have a business meeting in an hour. We have to go."  
"But your friends-" Clarke protested.  
"I can handle them." Lexa turned to Anya, who slowly nodded her head. "I'll go talk to Lincoln."  
"Okay, let me just get the bill then."  
"Keep your money, I already paid," was all Lexa's response before heading to the jukebox machine where Lincoln was still trying to prevent a catfight between his two brunette companions, leaving Anya to eye the blonde who had her mouth slightly open in disbelief at what her bodyguard just did. Her rich boyfriend would never do that.


	9. Strippers

# 9\. Strippers

_"I seriously need to take a nap. I'm sure you'll be fine, Lexa."_  
Lexa could hear Anya's loud, long yawn through her earpiece, and she let out a small huff in response. It was already past three in the morning and she knew that the two security guards posted at the end of the hallway must be dozing off by then. It's the graveyard shift again, but she won't let anybody else take it. When Paul offered so that she could get some rest, she only shot him a glare. She didn’t need sleep, she just needed to protect the person on the other side of the door. That was her job as bodyguard.  
With everybody else already asleep, she remained seated on the carpeted floor, her back against the wall and her new phone in her hands.  
 _Click._  
It was the sound of the white door digitally unlocked. Alarmed, Lexa hurriedly stood straight up as the door gently opened, and suddenly Lexa and Clarke were staring at each other a little too long and a little too warm. It wasn't normal, they knew. But it was already past three in the morning and neither was in right mind.  
"Why are you-"  
Clarke started her question but stopped mid-sentence when Lexa told her to keep quiet as she nodded her head towards the two dozing security guards. Seeing this, the blonde grabbed her bodyguard's hand and dragged her inside the unlit room, stopping by the foot of the bed. She then turned around to meet dark green eyes once again – eyes that looked much more striking with just the faint moonlight slithering through the open balcony door.  
"Do you ever sleep, Lexa Branson?" she then asked curiously.  
"I'm human, am I not?"  
"But you're a creepy one most of the time."  
Lexa huffed at the retort and ignored the smirk posted on her boss' lips. "Why are you still awake? It's past your bedtime."  
"I'm not a kid anymore," the blonde rolled her eyes. "I'm allowed to stay awake for as late as I want to."  
The bodyguard slowly nodded her head, clearly no longer interested in whatever was about to prosper in the course of this conversation. But her eyes caught the open door to the balcony, where a sleeping bag was neatly laid down on the floor along with a half-eaten sandwich.  
"I couldn't sleep," Clarke immediately explained before her eyes fell on the device still clenched in Lexa's hand. The blonde smirked briefly at the thought of the bodyguard trying to make use of her gift. Then, without warning, she put a hand on Lexa's and pulled it up to lock the glowing screen. "Did you ever own a cell phone?"  
Lexa thought for a second, realising that in truth, she had never needed one. Trikru simply used spy devices to communicate. But she couldn’t say that as her answer so instead she kept her mouth shut and fixed a blank stare. She silently stood and followed Clarke's moves with her eyes. She watched the blonde's delicate hand reaching for the visible earpiece hanging on Lexa's right ear, and then carefully placed it on top of the coffee table. Then she walked out into the open-air, settling down on the sleeping bag.  
"What are you waiting for? Come over here, you creep."  
Lexa let out another annoyed sigh before making her way towards the balcony, sitting next to her boss on the sleeping bag.  
"Isn't it beautiful?" Clarke directed her eyes up to the night sky, to that full moon still on display.  
The brunette simply followed the gaze in response.  
Correctly guessing that her companion had already decided not to say a word as usual, Clarke turned to look at her, satisfying herself by examining Lexa's face as the bodyguard kept her watch on the celestial body floating above them. In times like this, Lexa Branson seemed to be out of character.  
"Do you know that there's a superstitious belief that the full moon rejuvenates feelings of love," the blonde paused for a moment, debating in her mind whether or not to continue with her trivia, "and kindles pent-up emotions?"  
To her dismay, her companion didn't make any response. No nod or head shake; not even a stare. Just plain nothing.  
"Is there anything you find beautiful, Lexa?" she asked inquisitively.  
Wordless, the brunette reached out for her pocket knife and showed it to Clarke. The other stared at it for a moment, then grabbed it in her hand, and went back inside to place it on the coffee table next to the previously discarded earpiece. She went back to her seat next to the brunette, and Lexa could only stare at her, realizing what the blonde was trying to do. Clarke Griffin was slowly stripping her down.  
"This is the first phone I've ever had."  
Lexa decided to test her hypothesis, and true enough, Clarke grabbed the phone from the grip. But this time, she simply placed it in the gap between them. She was indeed stripping her down, stripping down the revealed pieces, leaving the unknown characteristics yet to be exposed.  
"Your brother is really nice," the girl remarked. "Raven is obviously smitten by his charm. But is he, like, dating Octavia?"  
Octavia. No sound was heard through the hidden earpiece in her left ear. That's when it hit Lexa that Anya and the others were not at the other side of the line, they must be asleep. For the last several minutes, it was just Lexa and Clarke… for the first time since they've met. Additionally, as Clarke was stripping Lexa down for the night, there was no Anya to coach the brunette on what to say or do. This was just going to be her with the woman she had long labeled as the blonde monster. Surprisingly, after all this time, Lexa Woods had never felt this exposed and naked.  
"So what do they do for a living?" Clarke inquired when the bodyguard did not offer any response to the initial question, remembering the fact that she never had the chance to ask about them.  
"Octavia is an IT expert," the brunette finally replied, careful with her words. She was rude and all, but at least she wanted to be honest with Clarke. She wanted to tell her the truth; well, at least half of it.  
"What about Lincoln?"  
"Something," Lexa paused for a moment to let her brain come up with a follow up to that, "that is… vital… to the existing socio-economic system."  
Another smirk crept onto the blonde’s lips.  
"That sounds pretty awesome."  
The brunette simply nodded as a response, secretly relieved that her boss didn't ask her to elaborate on it. What would she say anyway? That she and Lincoln were some kind of criminals?  
"What about your parents?" Clarke went on with her agenda. "They must be doing something interesting too."  
"They're dead."  
The small glint of amusement abruptly faded away from the blonde's face, consequently turning her head towards her companion to check for any hint of sarcasm or jest. She found nothing but another emotionless expression on Lexa's face.  
"I'm sorry, I-I didn't-"  
Lexa immediately cut her off, "Apology doesn't bring back the dead."  
But still, Clarke couldn't resist the emphatic feeling quickly filling her being. She kept her eyes on the bodyguard's face as she resisted the urge to hold Lexa's hand for comfort. There's the possibility that she could do something stupid if she gave in to the impulse, so she opted to stay in place instead. Nevertheless, the pressure of doing something in return wouldn’t go away.  
"My dad passed away when I was four," she revealed.  
Lexa frantically turned to the blonde and found a frown on her face. No, she never intended to make the woman disclose something like that to her. That information was too much, too private. Thankfully, Anya was not there to hear it, but this conversation would no doubt be recorded. Suddenly, she started to panic. She couldn't let everybody else hear it, but what could she do?  
"9-4-2-1-4," Clarke spoke again. This time, she wore a bittersweet smile along with a pair of teary eyes. "1994, February 14th. That's the day I lost him."  
The password!  
"I didn't know he was gone," was all Lexa could utter.  
"Well, where do you think he is?" the blonde sadly chuckled. "You don't see him around here, do you?"  
"I think he just walked by the hallway when-" the bodyguard was about to joke but was immediately stopped by Clarke's hand hitting her on the arm. The girl looked mildly annoyed, but suddenly her face contorted in confusion mixed with contemplation. Wait, was Lexa Branson about to make a joke?  
Realizing the implication of what she almost did, Lexa returned her gaze to the full moon ignoring the smirk on the blonde's face directed straight towards her.  
"Come on, Lexa, tell me a joke."  
But the brunette simply let out an irritated huff.  
"Just one joke. I need to know you're a human being."  
Still, the other brushed off the request.  
"Okay, I'll start." Clarke made an excited squeal. "What does a bird's phone sound like?"  
She turned to her companion who gave her no response, not even an uncaring sigh, but the blonde continued with the joke anyway. Imitating the sound of a phone ringing, she enthusiastically pronounced, "Wing wing."  
Clarke had a wide grin plastered on her face when the brunette turned to her with another blank stare.  
"It's so corny, right?" Clarke’s face instantly fell as she criticized her own joke. "Okay, I got another one. Prepare to laugh this time, Lexa Branson."  
She briefly pointed a warning finger at the bodyguard who only responded by pursing her lips together as if challenging the woman.  
"Why did Beethoven get rid of his chickens?"  
Lexa didn't say a word again.  
"Because they kept saying… 'Bach-Bach-Bach'," Clarke energetically imitated the sound of a chicken along with some 'chicken wings' movements, and chuckled at her own joke. But her companion still had a straight face, and so the blonde threw a dirty look at her. "Come on, you have to laugh at that! I looked and sounded pretty stupid!"  
The brunette turned her eyes towards the sky once again and muttered, "You didn't tell me you’re an expert on bird sound imitations."  
In her peripheral view, she watched Clarke gasp in annoyance, hugging her knees together. With that, the next few minutes were filled with silence. The young heiress quietly looked straight ahead while her bodyguard stared at the full moon.  
"What happened to 'I can't stand the silent treatment'?" Lexa questioned.  
Clarke buried her face into her knees. "I am not talking to you."  
"You just did."  
It was the blonde's turn to huff at the statement and ignore her companion. Surprisingly, even for someone who finds comfort in solitude, Lexa had grown anxious at the sudden turn of events. So, with a little extra push, she let out a sigh and turned to the blonde curled up next to her.  
"Do you want to hear a joke about pizza?"  
At first, Clarke was unresponsive complying with her initial vow not to talk to that person who wouldn't bother to laugh at her corny jokes for the sake of exercising a little act of kindness. But the silence provoked her, and so she let her face resurface to the open-air and meet Lexa's impassive eyes. She stared at her face for a moment before opening her mouth to respond, but the brunette immediately cut her off.  
"Never mind, it's so cheesy."  
Just like that, the mood in the atmosphere changed. It started with a beam on Clarke's face, throwing a playful grin at the bodyguard who had gone back to her I-don't-give-a-shit zone. Afterwards, the blonde couldn't contain the chuckles anymore. Well, it didn't really matter if Lexa was about to brush off everything else she would do or say for the rest of the evening as usual. Lexa Branson made a joke and it was a miracle. It used to be an epitome of impossible, but it happened, and it was starting to make Clarke wonder, consider the possibility of Lexa changing – from that of a beast to a normal human being. Maybe Anya was wrong after all. Maybe Lexa could change.  
"Thank you," Clarke sincerely said after her chuckles had finally subsided. Never mind that Lexa wasn't looking, she plastered yet another smile on her face as a sign of her gratitude. "Thank you for letting me in, Lexa."  
But the other shook her head. "You still don't know a lot of things about me."  
"That's okay," the blonde assured her. "I feel like I already know what I need to anyway. Besides… you'll be staying with me all the time, 24/7 in fact, right? We'll have plenty of time to explore the rest of Lexa Branson."  
So this is what guilt feels like? Clarke was giving Lexa Branson that sweet friendly smile, but the truth was, Lexa Branson never existed in the first place. Clarke was giving her full trust when Lexa had known right from the very start that she would have to betray the blonde at some point. Clarke Griffin had given her the freedom to protect her, but Lexa Woods was purposely made to destroy her.  
"And there's one more thing you should know about my dad." Clarke's voice was just as calm but the strain of unease had returned as she moved further towards the person sitting next to her, closing that small gap between them. She reached for Lexa's pocket where she knew she'd find a pack of cigarettes along with a black lighter. "I lost him when he lost his battle against lung cancer. Cigarette smoking."  
Again, Lexa only followed with her eyes as Clarke settled the pack of cigarettes and lighter on the sleeping bag next to the iPhone, stripping her down once again. Then, she looked up a little in time to meet those bright blue eyes along with that bittersweet smile on the Clarke’s face.  
"Since your job here is to save me… I really hope you'd _honestly_ quit smoking this time. Quit, and save me from another heartbreak… please?" Then, she shook her head as some tears slipped from her eyes. "Because I can't get through the same pain of losing someone I care about all over again."  
That was it. That was all it took for Lexa, both Branson and Woods, to break out of character. She took her black leather jacket off, placed it around the shivering Clarke, and wiped away the tears with her thumb. Then without warning, she gently pulled the other closer to her body, letting her find comfort in her arm. The blonde didn't even have to ask this time. She just anticipated that she was going to sleep to this cricket's lullaby again. True enough, a moment later, Lexa started singing.

\----------

Clarke Griffin was busy entertaining the reporters swarming around her, patiently answering their queries about the success of the fundraising event held on that same day. Meanwhile, her bodyguard quietly crushed the empty drink can in her hand as she looked into the eyes of Bellamy Jacobs who was seated comfortably on a couch at the other side of the clubhouse. The guy had a mocking sneer fixed on his lips to match the sardonic look he was directing back at the brunette. She could clearly read the message on his face: _I know you want to punch me, but you can't._ There was nothing else in this world that could be more irritating than the mere existence of this man.  
"Hi there, _friend_."  
Okay, the second most irritating thing was the fact that Raven Reyes had just called her, in emphasis, 'friend'. The third one was definitely the sight of that goofy grin on her face which Lexa had no choice but to witness in the corner of her eye.  
"What's up?" the dark-haired girl cheerfully jumped to the side of the bodyguard, ending the unusually friendly gesture by raising both her eyebrows playfully.  
"Just tell me what the fuck you need," mumbled the other.  
Raven shot her a dirty look but in an instant, she eagerly took a white envelope out of her shoulder bag, pulled Lexa's left hand up, and carefully placed the material in her palm.  
"That's the invitation to my father's birthday party. Give it to Lincoln, okay?"  
" _Tell her Lincoln has already changed his mind_."  
The brunette let out a sigh but gave a half-hearted nod of her head in response to Raven causing the young woman to squeal in delight and excitement.  
" _Lexa! I thought you were on Octavia’s side!_ "  
But Lexa was already confined in her cloud of embitterment again when she looked straight ahead. This time, Bellamy was no longer alone on the couch. He had an arm around his blonde girlfriend and was planting a kiss on her lips. She swore she was displaying no amount of emotion on her face as usual, but maybe it was that stationary stare she was directing at the couple that gave her away to Raven, who was still standing next to her.  
"You should really beat him up again, you know," she advocated.  
" _Then you'll be in a lot of trouble again. Let’s not do that Lexa_."  
Raven made a quick glance at the brunette, but the bodyguard did not offer any form of response to the statement. In fact, she didn't move at all. She didn't blink and it was as if she wasn't even breathing anymore.  
"Clarke won't tell me," the dark-haired woman reported. "I can't convince Paul to speak out either. I know that the douchebag did something awful back in Las Vegas. It wouldn't be Bellamy if he wasn't acting like the worst boyfriend in the world."  
" _I'll have to agree with her on that one. Clarke's boyfriend just sounds like a real douche_."  
Still, the brunette rendered no reply.  
"You have no idea how much I hate that guy. Actually, I hate him more than I hate your impertinent attitude." Raven slightly shook her head and sharpened her eyes as she joined the wordless bodyguard in throwing dagger looks at the man in subject. "He was never a gentleman. He never listens. He doesn't show any interest in her, only in her money. He can't keep his hands from other girls and his gaze on Clarke is never longer than two seconds."  
She didn't even realize it, but Lexa was already crumpling the empty can in her right hand as if the material was completely made up of paper.  
"So just imagine how ecstatic I was when I found out that you punched him right in his sorry face." The girl put on a mischievous smirk to match the devilish feeling inside. "You better do it again while I'm watching, you know."  
" _Don't. I can't let her enjoy the sight of it. I get to watch that too, alright? That would be awesome!_ "  
The brunette suddenly turned her head to her side and asked her companion, "Why the fuck is she dating him?"  
Taken aback by the sudden interest on the part of the bodyguard, Raven could only shrug her shoulders, unsure of what exactly to say. This creepy woman did not speak a single word prior to this moment, then out of the blue, she was posing this question which the other wasn't prepared to answer immediately.  
" _Why are you asking?_ "  
Anya's sing song voice played through the hidden earpiece in her left ear. The normal Lexa would have let out an annoyed huff to express her great vexation. However, it was a different Lexa, the one who was never meant to be crafted in the first place, the one who had her pair of despairing eyes set on Raven while she waited for a satisfactory answer to her question.  
Raven had to debate against her conscience whether or not to disclose that piece of information to this person. Though she didn't trust her at first, Lexa Branson seemed to be the only person in the world who could give Bellamy Jacobs what he truly deserved. Nevertheless, in the end, the Posen heiress let out a defeated sigh.  
"I would really love to tell you about it… the formula as to how Bellamy Jacobs made Clarke Griffin fall head over heels in love with him, but it's not my story to tell, Lexa. I'm really sorry."  
" _So there's a formula… interesting_."  
Disappointed by the refusal, Lexa returned to her state of being a blank canvass.  
"You don't realize it, but we actually have the same job here." Raven then sported a proud smile as if for the first time in her life, she was playing a very significant role, a role that was much bigger than her socialite persona. "Just like you, my job is to protect Clarke. But unlike you, I failed when it came to Bellamy. I'm her best friend, Lexa. I know when she doesn't feel happy at all… and unfortunately, that's exactly what she feels with him."  
Lexa watched Bellamy's hand snaked up on Clarke's legs. She couldn't do anything. She had no right to do anything. She wasn't even supposed to care. She wasn't even supposed to feel anything at all.  
"But you know what?" the girl turned to her with a promising smile on her lips. "I can tell that Clarke is always happy whenever she's with you. I guess you constructed your own formula in a way, huh?"  
With that, Anya proceeded with her silly song again ( _Lexa and Clarke sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…_ ).  
"Excuse me, Miss Reyes?" A member of the press had suddenly approached the young woman, and so Raven immediately flashed her friendliest smile. "May we have an interview with you? It will be very quick, I promise."  
"Sure," the woman nodded her head.  
However, before following the reporter, Raven turned to Lexa once again.  
"I heard you quit smoking, by the way. I like how you smell now, Branson."  
She patted Lexa's shoulder, then left.  
" _Since when did you quit smoking? Why does that woman know something about you that I don't?_ "  
Ignoring Anya's frantic reaction, Lexa let out a heavy sigh, and then stuffed the totally crushed and crumpled empty can into a bin. Before long, she began scanning the clubhouse for a particular person she was secretly arranged to meet with. She immediately moved from her post as soon as she spotted the tall young man disguised as a waiter walking out of the kitchen. Just as planned, in a matter of a second during that very brief encounter, she casually handed over the white envelope, but to her surprise, the man slid a piece of paper into her hand as well in the process. Nonetheless, she continued to walk on her path as she let her eyes fall on the paper.  
It was a note, reading: _Gustus knows. They'll dig the grave. Just in case you want to know, kiddo._  
Lexa came to an instant halt. She silently tore the note, crumpled the broken pieces in her hand, and dumped it into her pocket to be completely disposed of later on. Of course, Gustus had to know. She couldn't blame Anya though, for this was beyond her control already. Anya wasn't aware of the existence of that particular conversation – that particular conversation which revealed the importance of that goddamn password. But then again, the communication device was recording everything. The communication device was being too loyal to Gustus Woods.  
So what? It wasn't supposed to be a problem for Lexa. _Fidelity to Trikru_ , that was the code after all. More than ever, she had to remind herself that she was on the side of The Secret Society where she belonged. But no matter how much Lexa tried to resist the feeling of apprehension, her entire being was already almost consumed by such emotion. Then, in an instant, her mind just went pitch black. There was a sudden need for release. She turned around, and for some kind of phenomenal conspiracy, the first person her eyes had found was no other than Bellamy Jacobs. Without realizing, she began walking towards his direction. She was walking faster than her usual speed too. A few seconds later, forget that Clarke Griffin was right there sharing a conversation with Justin Timberlake himself, Lexa Branson started throwing punches at Bellamy, painting bruises on his face for the second time.

\----------

Thank goodness Griffin’s Executive Assistant was very good at her job and could control the group of press in attendance during the event. Whatever she bribed them, it was the perfect bargain to keep their mouths shut about what could have been a big scandal to the public eye. In addition, thanks to Raven for taking the initiative to be the defense against Kane's petition for suspension which later on turned into a petition for termination. Therefore, at the end of the day, much to Bellamy's great disappointment and utter frustration, Lexa Branson had secured her job as the bodyguard upon the approval of Abigail Griffin herself. However, Clarke spent the next couple of days giving the brunette another silent treatment which prompted Lexa to conclude that she had to do something.  
On their way back to the Griffin Manor from the production set of an anti-bullying PSA in which the young woman was involved, Lexa would throw quick glances at the rear-view mirror to check on her boss. Okay, so Clarke would not even look at her anymore. Instead, she opted to watch the view out of the car window. Maybe it was Lexa's fault anyway. Fine, it was indeed Lexa's fault for beating up Bellamy again without the most valid justification. Well, in her defense as Raven had stated, the guy was a natural douchebag, and that alone should have been the best justification for it. But as they say, _love is blind_ (and all that crap), and so Clarke had to take her boyfriend's side. Bellamy was really angry and that meant she had to be on the same side of the boxing ring much to her best friend's disappointment.  
Seriously, though? Two days? Two days of being brushed off? Even for Lexa who had undoubtedly mastered that craft, it was completely stupid. One more day of being ignored and she had to kill somebody in order to preserve her decaying sanity. Fortunately, there was a second option. Hence, the black and white Range Rover took a sudden change of direction.  
"You're supposed to turn left, not right."  
Clarke Griffin spoke to her for the first time since that clubhouse incident. However, Lexa was back to her silent ways.  
" _Aren't you going to tell her?_ "  
"We're supposed to go back to the manor." The woman was then directing her eyes on the rear-view mirror. "This is not part of the schedule."  
" _You're going to get into trouble again, I'm feeling it._ "  
"Where are you taking me, Branson? Are you trying to kidnap me? I'm calling Kane now."  
" _Just tell her already!_ "  
Lexa kept her eyes on the road as she finally muttered, "If taking you out for a special surprise is called kidnaping in your vocabulary, then sure, I'm trying to kidnap you."  
" _And now you're good._ "  
Dumbfounded, the blonde could only hold onto her phone with a slightly open mouth while staring at her bodyguard's emotionless face through the rear-view mirror. Lexa Branson was about to take her out for a special surprise? Okay, forget about pretending to be angry at Lexa. It was becoming completely stupid.

\----------

Lexa closed the rear door of the Range Rover as soon as she retrieved the large picnic basket and the customary picnic blanket with red-and-white checkered print. Then, she went around to the side of the car where a speechless Clarke was waiting, staring at the uniform, white tombstones before her. It had been over a year since the last time she set foot in this place.  
"I don't know which one it is, so lead the way,"Lexa said quietly.  
The other turned her head towards the bodyguard. Lexa had her usual blank stare, but somehow, she was more accommodating than her typical self. She could read the reluctance on the blonde's face, and so figured, a little encouragement was needed.  
"Here," she pulled a long-stemmed red rose out of the picnic basket and handed it over to her boss. "That's for you. Anya said it means 'I love you'."  
" _You're welcome, but there's something wrong with your statement, Lexa._ "  
Clarke quickly shot her bodyguard a surprised look, stunned by the sudden implication of the proclamation made. Realizing the effect of her words, Lexa hurriedly shook her head to dismiss the idea.  
"I meant that's for you to give to your dad."  
The blonde let out a few chuckles as she nodded her head in understanding.  
"I didn’t expect you to mean it in _that_ sense in any case. But you don't really have to be so horrified about it, Lexa."  
Clarke threw a wink at her before stepping onto the green grass. There's that wink again, and for a moment, Lexa had to pick herself up from the awkward encounter. She took a very deep breath and followed her boss.  
" _We can't have another slip of the tongue._ "  
Lexa let out an annoyed huff at Anya's mockery. As soon as the blonde stopped at the particular tombstone, the bodyguard started to settle everything down. She set the picnic blanket on the green grass and placed the picnic basket neatly on top of it while from time to time, her eyes would silently watch Clarke.  
The blonde delicately placed the red rose on top of the marker just beside the beautiful bouquet already seated there. It was Abby’s daily gift to her husband. Clarke ran her fingers over the inscription of her father's name: _Jake A. Griffin_. Before long, she was letting her tears fall, while Lexa looked away.  
"Hi, dad." The brunette heard her boss' small chuckles. "I'm sorry it took me so long to come back. I… I was waiting for some kind of a miracle to happen. Well, it hasn't yet. But you can thank Lexa Branson right here for trying to kidnap me today."  
Lexa looked up to see the blonde grinning at her, but made no further reaction other than another blank stare.  
"Mom hired her to be my bodyguard," the young girl carried on, looking back down towards the marker. "And what can I say? She's the best bodyguard in the world."  
" _Great, you've met the whole family._ "  
The brunette ignored Anya's comment and settled down on the picnic blanket. Before long, after a few more moments that ended with an 'I miss you', Clarke had come to join her. The blonde had fixed a sunny look on her face that was making the other extremely uncomfortable.  
"Thank you," said the blonde. "Thank you for all of this."  
"It was actually Raven's idea."  
" _Hey! It was my idea too!_ "  
Tired of all the awkward moments she was never prepared for, Lexa let out a heavy sigh and started pulling the picnic basket closer.  
"Anyways, I hope you like take-out food. Chili's. I couldn't find the time to cook with your busy sched-"  
But before she could finish the sentence and reach out for the first pack of food inside, Clarke immediately pulled the picnic basket away from the bodyguard. Enthusiastically, she started taking out the dishes, setting them on the space between her and Lexa, leaving the other to simply stare at her. The blonde was doing it again. She was stripping her down once again.  
"So you cook," Clarke supposed. "What kind of food do you like to eat though? Pepperoni pizza? Country-fried steak? Cajun pasta? Spicy Buffalo Wings?"  
" _Fuck I'm starving. I can't take this anymore. I'll be back when you two are done eating. I think you already know what to do anyway._ "  
Lexa waited for the sound of Anya's tormented breaths to fade away signaling the absence of her on the other side of the communication device before offering an answer.  
"Anything with beer."  
Clarke nodded her head attentively as she made a mental note of that. She then fixed a slice of taco pizza on Lexa's plate along with a cheesesteak sandwich.  
"I forgot to mention it, but your tattoos are really awesome."  
In line with her not-so-secret-anymore agenda, the next thing to do for the young girl would have been to at least take her bodyguard's jacket off as a reminder of how she discovered the art underneath. That explained the perverse stare she had on the garment, but doing so would be really awkward, not to mention possibly too forward. However, since Lexa had already decoded the secret plan, she decided to take the initiative and removed her black leather jacket. But just as she was about to raise her hand, she spotted three familiar faces lurking around the area. It was Niylah along with Gustus’ two men, all three were wearing cemetery caretaker uniforms, and each had a digging tool in their hands.  
"Something wrong?" asked Clarke.  
"Kane is expecting us in the manor in ten minutes," the bodyguard lied as she held two fingers on the earpiece hanging on her right ear as if someone had just communicated to her. The truth was the device wasn't even working anymore. But she had to get Clarke out of there fast. "I'll fix this up. Just wait for me in the car."  
Left with no other choice, Clarke had to obey the order. She bid goodbye to her father before proceeding to the car. With her back to the Range Rover, Lexa calmly put away the picnic set and casually glanced at Niylah. One look and she got the message: _Is that the grave?_ Hence, she slightly nodded her head in response. Keeping a hold of the picnic basket in her hand, she threw a quick look at the marker for the first time and probably the last time too. She wondered if Clarke would ever forgive her if she would ever find out that her 'best bodyguard in the world' had helped these people plot what they were about to do to this grave. More so, the fact that Lexa was wondering about it meant that Clarke Griffin had effectively stripped her down.


	10. Intruders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quickly before this chapter begins I just want to mention 2 things:  
> Firstly thank you so much for all the lovely comments and bookmarks and kudos (almost 100, thats amazing)!!  
> And secondly I want to make clear that Gustus is supposed to be shady in this story so I'm sorry if some of you don't like him, but that's the point 

# 10\. Intruders

Lincoln grinned at his reflection in the mirror as he neatly secured the navy blue bowtie around his neck. For the final touch, he picked up the expensive perfume Octavia had given him for Valentine's Day and sprayed the fragrance over his atmosphere. Typically, on regular days, the process of dressing up for him would only include putting on a shirt, a pair of faded blue jeans, and a pair of shoes. With just a little bit of the perfume, he would have been good to go. However, this particular night was the night which Raven Reyes's dad was throwing a birthday party, so he needed to make that little extra effort to make sure he was presentable for the occasion.  
Not wanting to be late for the party, Lincoln straightened his suit one last time, then retrieved the invitation card from his bed. Before long, he was heading out of the door. The night was starting off in a good light, but right when he pulled the door open, Gustus’ two guards were there to prevent his exit.  
"What is this?" he questioned, but received no response. He took a step forward to assert his way, but the two bald men further blocked his path. Annoyed, he threw dirty looks at them and firmly ordered, "Get the fuck out of my way."  
"You seem too dressed up tonight, Lincoln."  
Lincoln's attitude suddenly disappeared upon hearing Gustus’ voice. The sharpness in his eyes instantaneously softened as the two men in front of him parted away revealing the presence of their boss.  
"Where are you off to?" asked the old man.  
The younger lowered his head slightly and muttered, "Just some party."  
Gustus pursed his lips together as if contemplating the idea, but then he slowly shook his head and fixed an eye on Lincoln. "No, I don't think so. Not anymore."  
"But-"  
"There's something more important that I need you to do," was all Gustus said, but it was enough to keep the younger man from speaking another word. Lincoln simply nodded his head in submission. "I'll see you at the Command Room for the briefing."

\----------

The Reyes home may not have been as gigantic as the Griffin Manor, but it was definitely just as grandeur. It had a wide cobblestone driveway with a well-maintained modern rock fountain in the middle of the mini roundabout. If that wasn't extravagant enough for a regular person, at the door entrance stood four Corinthian columns as a foundation. Moreover, a number of usherettes elegantly dressed up for the occasion were lined up at the door to welcome the guests and show them the way to the banquet hall where classical music was playing. Lexa reminded herself not to stay near the mini orchestra at any point during the night or she'd probably doze off without even meaning to.  
"Are we late?" Clarke frantically asked her best friend who met them by the door.  
Raven shook her head, "Just in time, but your mother is already here."  
The brunette nervously turned her eyes to Lexa, standing behind her best friend. She didn't say a word, and so Raven threw her hands in the air and gasped in frustration.  
"What?" croaked the brunette.  
"Where's Lincoln?"  
"I don't know."  
_"I knew Lincoln wouldn’t go!"_  
Lexa heard Anya's smile through her voice.  
"Did you give the invitation?" the dark-haired woman glared at the bodyguard.  
"Yes."  
"Personally?"  
"Yes."  
"Then where is he?"  
Clarke immediately walked towards her best friend, linking their hands together, and dragged her further into the banquet hall before the other would explode. Lexa Branson had no other choice but to follow, letting out an annoyed huff in the process.  
"Lexa said Lincoln has his own car. He'll be here before you know it, don't worry."  
The blonde flashed her usual sweet smile as a sign of reassurance in order to calm Raven down while they searched for their assigned table. On the other hand, her bodyguard unfortunately had to drag herself to where the rest of the Griffin security group were posted for the evening, wherein Kane immediately met her with a scrutinizing look at her usual full black attire - black leather jacket, black jeans, and black boots.  
"It's a _formal party_ , Branson."  
She nodded her head uncaringly, "Yeah, and fuck you."  
_"Way to get on his bad side, huh?"_  
Lexa looked to the side, ignoring the dagger looks from the man, and noticed that Paul was being quietly nice to her again, and so she decided to stay close to him for the meantime. She stood next to him and took quite a deep breath. She just knew it; this was going to be a very long night.

\----------

Octavia carefully placed the folder of papers on top of the desk and nervously stood back to wait for further instructions from the group head. He turned his head to the side and found Costia standing quietly next to him waiting for further instructions as well. Confused at first, she eventually shrugged off the idea of her getting involved in the special mission. It just wouldn't be possible; she was on a different team.  
"What do I need to know about this, Blake?" Gustus grabbed the folder and started scanning the small pile of papers inside.  
"The latest mission is a negative, sir," Octavia promptly answered. "The group found no treasure in the grave. There's also no sign of a clue or a lead found in the area."  
The old man sighed at the pointless news then held up some of the papers. "And what are these?"  
"Those are transcripts of the additional recorded conversations from Lexa's communication device, sir. I already omitted Anya's unnecessary comments. As usual, most conversations are with Clarke Griffin."  
"Clarke Griffin," Gustus repeated the name with great interest. "She's the one and only daughter, right?"  
Octavia nodded her head in affirmation, recognizing the fact that there was finally something interesting about her report.  
"She supplied us with the password and its significance. She's very careful with giving out details about her mother as well as the corporation though, especially when it comes to the kidnapping incident. But she's very vocal about her conviction that there are people who are after them; hence, the establishment of the tight security."  
Gustus suddenly directed his eyes towards the other person present in the room, and Costia automatically straightened herself up.  
"Costia," called the group leader. "It has come to my attention that you want to be reassigned to Lexa's team, is that right?"  
The brunette nodded her head, "Yes, sir."  
Octavia dropped her mouth open at the news. Was she that desperate to be with Lexa?  
"Then I have your first mission for you," Gustus picked up the picture of a young blonde woman attached with the files submitted by Octavia and gently pushed it further on the desk for the brunette to see. "Keep an eye on Griffin's daughter. I want you to study everything about her, especially her schedule. When she leaves the manor, don't let her get away from your sight."  
"But isn't that Lexa's job already?" protested Octavia.  
"Lexa's job is to keep an eye on the treasure," the man glanced to Octavia. " _Not_ on the girl."  
"Does the rest of the team know about this, sir?"  
Irritated by all the questions pouring out from his subject, Gustus leaned forward on his desk and fixed a blank stare at the young brunette.  
"Tell me, do they have to know, Octavia?" There was no response.  
"Starting tonight," Gustus pulled out a cigarette and leaned back into his chair. "Costia will be on your team."  
And that meant Octavia simply had to nod her head in agreement to cover up the anxious sigh that escaped from her lips. She watched Costia pick up the picture from the desk and memorize the face before crumpling it into a ball and dumping it into the nearby bin. It seemed like the mission was just about to become more complicated than it already was.

\----------

Regrettably, Lexa had to stay in the banquet hall through all the boring speeches, presentations of ridiculously expensive birthday gifts, the annoying murmurs of _intelligent elite_ conversations, and not to mention watching all these people dance along to some jazz music courtesy of the mini orchestra. The undercover assassin had never felt this riled in her entire life. And she struggled to fight the urge of rolling her eyes when everybody in attendance including Clarke Griffin swooned at the presence of the one and only Michael Bublé. He was singing a song called _L.O.V.E._ according to Anya who was singing along much to the brunette's dismay, while a blonde guy who Lexa thought must be the son of some rich executive director asked Clarke to dance with him.  
Noticeably though, Raven Reyes was sulking in her seat, politely declining every man who would ask her to dance with them. She simply watched her parents and everybody else in the party have a great time on the dance floor. Good, so Lexa wasn't the only uninvited one to the cloud 9 zone.  
Thankfully, Clarke politely declined to dance to another song and hurriedly went back to her seat to attend to her best friend's needs. When Raven still wouldn't wear a smile on her lips, the blonde determinedly walked to where her bodyguard was.  
"Where's Lincoln?" she asked.  
Lexa replied, "I really don't know."  
_"I told you he's not coming already."_  
The brunette ignored Anya's smirk.  
"Can you not call him?"  
"He doesn't have a phone."  
The other sighed at the confession. What was it with this family that they wouldn't own a phone in this day and age?  
"Well, they're about to play the song, and if Raven doesn't agree to dance to it with somebody who's present at this party, then she's going to be really heartbroken."  
_"What song?"_  
As if on cue, the mini orchestra started playing something different from the kinds of music that they had been playing all throughout the evening. Lexa didn't recognize it, but Anya did.  
_"We watch the season pull up its own stakes,_  
_And catch the last weekend of the last week,_  
_Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced,_  
_Another sun soaked season fades away."_  
Surprisingly, Clarke stayed with Lexa at her side where she could hide from the men who would come and ask her to dance with them yet still be able to keep an eye on her sulking best friend. This little action prompted the rest of the security group to move away though because apparently you don't seem to hang out with your boss' daughter. Well, without the blonde's knowledge, Anya was singing the lyrics to the song on her bodyguard's hidden earpiece, and it was involuntarily causing the brunette great discomfort. It felt beyond awkward to listen to the song when it was just her and Clarke standing in the corner side-by-side like a pair of wallflowers.  
_"Invitation only grant farewells,_  
_Crash the best one of the best ones,_  
_Clear liquor and cloudy-eyed, too early to say goodnight."_  
Thankfully, Mr. Reyes was sweet enough to ask his daughter to dance with him to the song, joining the other pairs on the dance floor. At least, even with the absence of Lincoln, Raven still got to dance with a special man. Then, it was as if Lexa felt the pull of gravity from Clarke's smile that the brunette turned her head towards the blonde and eyes met for another unforeseen, warm and intimate moment. Clarke's smile faded as she lost herself in emerald eyes once again. This time, the feeling of being drawn to Lexa was too much to ignore and she had a sudden urge to kiss her right then and there. But suddenly, Abby Griffin approached her daughter for a dance, and the unplanned moment was forced to end.  
_"And from the ballroom floor we are in celebration,_  
_One good stretch before our hibernation,_  
_Our dreams assured and we all will sleep well. Sleep well."_  
By the time Abby and Clarke were waltzing on the dance floor, Paul was back at Lexa's side and the man couldn't help but give her a nudge on the arm along with a knowing look. So it wasn't just her own imagination then, this man saw it too. He saw that evident spark which radiated from the brief eye-to-eye connection, that incredibly head-in-the-clouds feeling which Lexa chose to brush off and bury deep in her world.  
_"I watch you spin around in your highest heels,_  
_You are the best one of the best ones,_  
_We all look like we feel."_  
But as the brunette watched the mother and daughter from afar, she caught Clarke's nervous gaze once more and she felt alarmingly alive. It was rather too strange that it scared her to death. It wasn't just Branson anymore, Lexa Woods was never this scared in her whole life, and it was all because of the thought of her falling in love with Clarke Griffin… and Clarke Griffin falling in love with her.  
_"You have stolen my,_  
_You have stolen my,_  
_You have stolen my,_  
_You have stolen my heart."_  
As soon as the song ended, everybody erupted in applause, while Lexa dragged herself out of the banquet hall. She had to drag herself out fast; otherwise, if Clarke came walking straight to her from her mother's arms, Lexa feared she would do something stupid. And she knew she shouldn't. She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way in the first place. She wouldn't admit that the blonde had already stolen her heart. But that was the truth.

\----------

While the time passed by and the party went on, Lexa found comfort sitting at the exterior grand staircase to the backyard garden by herself. This would have been a good time for a cigarette break but since she had abandoned that habit, playing games on her phone was the replacement. It was an enough distraction away from that strange feeling she deliberately left back at the banquet hall.  
"Oh there you are."  
The brunette immediately turned around and saw Clarke Griffin standing at the large glass door. Before long, the young woman, in her high heels, cautiously descended the staircase towards the bodyguard.  
"Do you mind?" she asked, to which the other responded with a shake of her head, and so the blonde took a seat next to her bodyguard on the bottom steps. "So, cricket, what are you doing out here?"  
As a response, Lexa kept her mouth shut and put the phone back to her pocket.  
"Not enjoying the party?" Clarke went on with her endless attempt to strike up a conversation. "The food wasn't good? You don't like the music? Too many people around? Too much with the formalities? Raven just won't stop throwing daggers at you? You hate everything about this fucked up planet? Tell me, what is it?"  
Lexa made sure not to turn to look and meet those bright blue eyes once again or it was just going to be a disaster. But really, it was funny how Clarke was trying to search for the single reason that had made the brunette so uncomfortable when in fact the only honest reason for why she came to hide in this poorly-lit garden was the blonde herself. Lexa needed to run away from Clarke.  
"So you're just going to give me the silent treatment all over again," the blonde supposed.  
_"Just talk to her, Lexa. Come on."_  
But the brunette still wouldn't say a thing, so her company took a deep breath and looked up to the night sky above, trying to do the impossible – count all the stars in her head.  
"Don't you ever get tired of that… _bulletproof_ character?" questioned Clarke. "I mean, yeah, you get to be the _strongest_ one, and nobody ever dares to hurt you because it just wouldn't be possible to do so. But then, it seems sad… because everybody is so scared of you, so scared that they don't even want to stay."  
_"I'm scared of you, but I do stay."_  
"Just how do you do this? How can you live like this, Lexa? How do you survive being so alone and so lonely and so guarded? How can you not care about anything or anyone? How can you be such a ruthless and callous warrior? I mean, you said it yourself, you're still a human being, right?"  
Lexa slightly opened her mouth and mumbled, "I told you, I'm a monster."  
"Why?"  
"Because I was made this way."  
"By who?"  
"The system."  
"What system?"  
_"Stop!"_  
And Lexa did. She needed to stop talking. Fortunately, Anya was able to sense it. A few more questions and the brunette could be starting to talk about Trikru already. Not that her partner had doubts in her skills, Lexa was the best in the field, but just to make sure, they needed to protect the secrecy of the organization.  
Receiving no answer from the bodyguard, Clarke took a quick glance at her before letting out a heavy sigh.  
"I heard about… Costia," she said, and out of surprise, Lexa turned her head towards the blonde in an instant. "And it sounds to me like she really loves you, Lexa."  
Clarke turned her gaze to the totally stunned woman next to her. "Finally, there's somebody who cares enough to stay."  
_“That information may or may not have been released by me...”_  
Starting to get really infuriated, Lexa rolled her eyes and entered her I-don't-give-a-shit zone once more.  
"So why won't you let her in? Why won't you make her stay? Why do you keep on inviting her in but then end up pushing her away?"  
"Because I don't let anybody in."  
"But you did let me in," Clarke pointed out. The other shut her mouth. She had lost that round.  
_"Wait, when did you let her in?"_  
Lexa then sighed and glared at the blonde, "So what the fuck do you want to point out here?"  
"I-I don't know," Clarke shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe I want to point out that… you're much bigger and better than this bulletproof character, Lexa. The fact that you've let me in means there's more to you than meets the eye. I've seen your different sides, and I must say that… you're not a monster after all. I'm sorry, Lexa, but you don't seem to scare me anymore."  
The bodyguard did not respond again.  
"And I know what it feels like to be a Costia. I know what it feels like to practically throw yourself at somebody who won’t bother to catch you. I know what it feels like to give your heart to someone who keeps on insensitively breaking it into pieces. It’s like trying to count all the stars in the sky, or trying to drink all the water in the ocean. It's so fucking hopeless and it fucking hurts so much. So _please_ … stop being such a Bellamy to her."  
No, Lexa would never want to be anything like Bellamy Jacobs. But Clarke was right. Sadly, she was clearly being a Bellamy to Costia.  
"Bellamy was the miracle I was waiting to happen." Suddenly, the blonde had that bittersweet smile on her face once again, that bittersweet smile that seemed to just break Lexa out of character every time. "He was the first and only person who promised to go on a date with me in my dad’s graveyard. Who would ever want to have a date in a graveyard on a Valentine's Day, huh?"  
_"Oh, so that's the formula."_  
Clarke was chuckling, but her company knew her heart was slowly tearing apart.  
"I just wanted to share what could have been the most incredible moment in my life with my dad. One year though, and Bellamy still hasn't fulfilled his promise. I'm still waiting for that goddamn miracle to happen… until one day, there you were trying to kidnap me." The blonde directed a smile towards the quiet cricket surprisingly still sitting next to her. "Apparently, you happened, Lexa... so I guess you're not so much of a Bellamy after all."  
_"That's, like, one of the greatest compliments in the world right now."_  
But Lexa muttered, "It wasn't a date."  
And Clarke had to laugh at that along with an understanding nod of her head. Of course, it wasn't a date. Lexa, both Branson and Woods, would never go out on a date. So for the sake of technicalities, let's just call it, in her own words, a 'special surprise'.  
"But because I'm 'not so much of a Bellamy' I would like to tell you that…" the brunette, without warning, slowly leaned closer to the blonde until her lips were almost touching Clarke's ear. And with her voice gradually turning into a very soft whisper, she murmured in such a way that only Clarke could understand her words, "You look beautiful tonight. You look beautiful tonight and every single day."  
Dumbfounded, Clarke froze into place. Those words were words which her boyfriend never told her. It had been more than a year and she was still waiting for Bellamy to make some sort of a miracle happen, but then, Lexa Branson accomplished two in a matter of two days. So yeah, she's definitely not so much of a Bellamy after all.  
_"She looks what? Say it again, Lexa. Louder."_  
Anya pleaded, but Lexa was already standing up, putting two fingers on the secretly broken earpiece visibly hanging on her right ear.  
"We should head back to the party. Kane's already looking for you."  
The young woman nodded her head, but remained seated on the steps as she watched her bodyguard slowly ascend the staircase. What was this person doing to her? Why was she standing up, quietly following her up the stairs with this little desire to embrace her tight, or perhaps, kiss her? Well, should she? But even before Clarke could make up her mind, she felt a hand forcefully cover her mouth and the barrel of a gun was pressed against her head. She tried to scream, but all she could make out were muffled cries.  
Suddenly, Lexa stopped at her tracks, instinctively feeling that something bad was happening behind her. She turned around, only to see Clarke held by a masked-person in full-black attire.  
"Let her go," the bodyguard calmly demanded, but instead, the captor only pointed the gun at the brunette.  
_"What's happening?"_  
Annoyed by the only response she was able to obtain, Lexa sighed and slowly descended the stairs, getting closer and closer to the pair with every step prompting the unexpected intruder to drag Clarke down to the landscaped-garden away from the other.  
"If you're going to point a gun at the enemy," she suddenly made a halt and so did the masked-intruder, "make sure you're always ready to pull the trigger."  
With that, she kicked the hand holding the gun away and the captor reflexively let go of the hostage. Clarke immediately ran to the side allowing her bodyguard to throw a hard punch into the intruder's completely covered face.  
_"I'm sending a warning to Kane's earpiece."_  
Just when the uninvited guest regained composure, a knife was taken out and was hurriedly shoved towards the brunette, but Lexa was able to deflect it. She grabbed the extended arm and mercilessly twisted it around and shoved the enemy down on one knee; bones cracking. But the just wouldn't give up yet. The intruder leaned further down and, using their back, lifted Lexa off her feet to somersault in the air and fall back down on her chest. Angered, she gritted her teeth and pushed herself up followed by a quick reverse roundhouse kick into the enemy's jaw. The other picked up the knife lying quietly on the grass, prepared to stab Lexa. The knife was launched towards her chest and she simply deflected the attack with the back of her arm, then threw several hard punches towards the fully-covered face until the other was spitting out blood, and until the beaten body collapsed on the ground.  
No, Lexa wasn't done yet. She had to kill whoever this intruder was before anybody could stop her. Kane and the others were already at the door, but this was for her knife to kill. So she grabbed the enemy by the shoulder and pulled them up for more of her cruel attacks. However, just when the intruder was struggling to their feet, Lexa stopped. She froze into place as the intruder weakly held on to her, wordlessly begging for her mercy. She could hear the unsteady breaths and the muffled cries of pain, and suddenly she couldn't do it anymore.  
"No!" she heard Clarke's loud shriek and she knew that one of Kane's men was about to shoot this intruder.  
Lexa suddenly fell back down on the grass as if the intruder had powerfully pushed her. The other quickly got the message and so took this as an opportunity to snappily drag themself away; hence, the bullet missing its target by a split second. A few more gunshots were fired, but the intruder had already disappeared into the dark. Paul and the others tried to chase them down, but Lexa knew they would manage to escape anyway, so she simply let out a sigh and stood back up to her feet.  
_"Lexa, are you okay?"_  
"What the fuck was that, Branson?" Kane screamed in her face as soon as he reached the female bodyguard, but the brunette offered no other response than her usual blank stare. "Why did you let him get away? You could have killed him already."  
Out of frustration, the head of security violently provokingly pushed her by the shoulders, and so, angered, Lexa instantly pulled out her knife and drew a perfect long diagonal cut on his cheek. Kane could only jerk at the sudden attack and reflexively put a hand on his bleeding wound, his mouth left wide open in shock.  
"I just fucking tried," was all she told him before walking away.  
_"It's alright, Lexa. I know you could have."_  
Lexa made a quick glance at Clarke to make sure she was okay, and was relieved to find that the blonde was already being attended to by the comforting hands of her mother. She then lowered her head down as she approached the staircase. Well, she really did try. She could have killed them, quite honestly. She was so close to pulling out her pocket knife and plunging it into the intruder's chest. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but she smelled the other’s scent. She recognized that familiar smell, and so she immediately had to restrain herself. She would kill any intruder. She would kill anybody, really, without any amount of hesitation, but not him. No, not Lincoln... even when he purposely tried to kill her.

\----------

Kane and the rest of his men walked out of the home office leaving their boss to do her late night work at one thirty in the morning. Abby Griffin took a sip of her hot coffee and sighed at the sight of the pile of files scattered all over her desk.  
"Madam?"  
From out of nowhere, Lexa Branson appeared in front of her startling the older woman. Abby alarmingly raised her eyes from the brunette towards the CCTV cameras in the room, and found that foreign wiring was connected to each of them making her correctly conclude that the rest of her security group wasn't aware of Lexa’s presence in the office.  
"I need you to tell me something," she demanded immediately. She wasn't going to beat around the bush. She didn't have the luxury of time. Sooner or later, Anya would get suspicious enough to figure out that Lexa was no longer at the other end of the line. "I need you to tell me where the treasure is."  
Taken aback by her words, the older woman momentarily heaved out a breath and then leaned back into her chair.  
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.  
But Lexa marched forward until she was just an inch away from the edge of the desk. This was taking too much time than she wanted it to be.  
"You know there are dangerous people who are trying to get to you," she leaned forward and spoke every word with utter conviction and importance. "But this time, they're trying to get to Clarke too. Your daughter's life is in danger, madam."  
Abby casually nodded her head, "That's why I hired you… to protect her."  
The brunette stood back and sighed in frustration at Griffin’s nonchalance.  
"Did you not see what happened back at the party? There's a huge chance that I'm going to fail my job. But these people, they will do everything they can to get what they want. They will stop at nothing until they get it."  
Again, the blonde nodded her head. "I know. They won't even leave my dead husband alone."  
"So tell me where the treasure is. That's all they want, madam."  
"How do you know what they want, Branson?"  
At this, Lexa paused. She stared at the curious look upon the face of Abby Griffin. Sneaking into her office alone was more than enough to raise great suspicion, what more can blurting out all this information contribute to that? She wanted to get this over with. She wanted the special mission to terminate already. But should she give her an answer? Telling the truth would blow her cover, and it won't be good for Trikru.  
"I've been studying your kidnapping case and it has to be the most rational explanation for it," she lied and hoped that Abby Griffin would buy it, and fortunately, she did. "Now tell me where the stolen treasure is, madam. You have to return it to where it belongs. Tell me where it is, and then you and Clarke will be safe."  
Abby let out a sigh and rested her arms on the desk, fixing an apologetic expression towards the bodyguard.  
"I hate to break it to you, Lexa, but there's no such thing as a stolen treasure."  
_Another diversion_ , Lexa thought. As if the business tycoon had read her mind, she continued with her confession to reaffirm the statement.  
"I would do anything to keep my daughter safe, but unfortunately, there's no such thing as a stolen treasure."  
That was it. Lexa's walls came tumbling down. No treasure? All of these series of missions for nothing? It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.  
"I guess you should do more research on the case," she proposed with a calm but deadly threatening tone. "For the meantime, I want you to reconnect the cameras back to where they should be before Kane and the others find out about this sudden and unauthorized visit. The two of us can pretend that this conversation never happened."  
"Why won't you just fire me, madam?" she questioned. "Kane is right. I'm a liability to this security group. I even went to the extent of sneaking into your office and falsely accusing you of stealing a non-existent treasure."  
Abby chuckled at the question. "Well, I thought we had an agreement, Branson? Protect Clarke until all of this is over and I shall reward you with anything you want."  
When Lexa did not pose any more questions for the other to answer, Abby continued.  
"When you're done fixing the cameras, I suggest you go back to your post. Stop worrying about a non-existent treasure. All I need you to worry about is my daughter."  
She flashed one last smile and proceeded back to her late night work commencing with another sip of coffee. Lexa, on the other hand, was left still in utter disbelief. There was no treasure to be found. There was no longer any other reason for the special mission to carry on. What should she do now?


	11. Calls

# 11\. Calls

Lexa carefully took off her black leather jacket leaving the hidden tiny microphone piece attached to it, then neatly placed the garment behind a huge flower pot at the hotel hallway. While her partner at the other end of the line didn't seem to notice this unauthorized absence, she casually marched towards the male restroom in the corner. As she opened the door, an old man met her blank face with one long-lasting odd stare. Nonetheless, the brunette cleared the way for him as if there was nothing strange about a woman entering the men's room before walking in. The others inside turned to her questioningly, but there was something about the way she looked back at them that coerced them to get out of there immediately. As soon as the last man hurriedly closed the door behind him, Lexa started slamming every cubicle door open to search for her guest of honour.  
"Lincoln!"  
One cubicle down. No sign of him.  
"I know you're in here."  
Two. Still, no sign of Lincoln.  
"Show your fucking face to me this time!"  
Three. Another empty one. With just one more cubicle left, Lexa stood impatiently at the door.  
"If you're fucking brave enough to try and kill me," she hissed at the closed door, "you should be fucking brave enough to show me your goddamn face. I want to see how you look when your finally able to plunge a knife into my chest or shoot a bullet into my head."  
Still, Lincoln did not reveal himself and so the brunette let out a sigh.  
"And if you do, I hope you won't regret it because apology doesn't bring back the dead, Lincoln. I should know… you know that."  
Suddenly, as if her words were a password, the cubicle door was slowly pulled open, revealing Lincoln standing steadily on his feet, his right arm hanging in a makeshift sling, his cheeks bruised, and his lips broken and swollen.  
"You look awful," Lexa casually remarked his appearance.  
Lincoln shook his head apologetically then walked towards the sink where he looked at his reflection in the mirror but was only reminded about his guilt. Turning away, his eyes landing on Lexa’s.  
"I don't have a lot of time," the brunette stated, motioning to her lack of communication device. "If you have something to tell me, spit it out now."  
"It was a mission. Gustus sent me."  
"Then you flunked it."  
Lincoln turned around to finally face her directly. This time, there was no mask to hide his identity and no mirror to implicate an illusion of reality.  
"Believe it or not, I wasn't there to kill you. I would never do that to you, Lexa."  
"I'm not blind, Lincoln. You were so sure to stab me with that knife."  
"And I knew you would be able to defend yourself," argued the other. Lexa kept her mouth shut. He knew her skills, so the argument could be as much the truth as it could be a lie. "The rest of Griffin's security group has launched extensive research about you. The head of security has been very suspicious of you, and so Gustus sent me. He thinks we have to make them believe that you’re not the danger to the Griffins, that you are not an enemy, and that you are indeed on their side. Well… if you ask me… we don't need to do that anymore, do we? There is no longer need for you to pretend as such, right, kiddo?"  
"I don’t have time for this shit," she said firmly, generously showing her irritation. Before Lincoln could come up with another indirect accusation, she decided to reveal, "There is no treasure, Lincoln."  
The older tilted his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows in a mixture of shock and confusion.  
"Abigail Griffin herself testifies to it. There is no treasure. Tell that to Gustus."  
Not bothering to wait for further response from the stunned man, Lexa turned her body and started heading towards the door signifying her intent to end this accidental confrontation, not to mention that it was foremost an unauthorized one.  
"If there's no treasure for you to find, then why are you still going back to the Griffins?" Lincoln questioned. Although he already had his idea of what could have been the answer to his query, he needed to ask. He needed to hear it from her.  
The brunette turned around abruptly to face the tall young man once more. She had her usual blank stare while Lincoln sported a grin across his broken lips.  
"I guess there's a reason why you call Costia your 'fuck buddy', huh?"  
Not that topic again.  
"You know it's love when you look at the person and you don't think about sex." Lincoln flashed a shrewd smile at the younger woman. "You know it's love when suddenly you are ready to give up everything you have ever believed in. It's love when the daunting beast has finally been tamed."  
Lexa took a deep breath but no words of excuse or pretense or denial escaped from her mouth. The daunting beast simply stood in place and remained in her own perfect state of being a very quiet cricket. But inside was actually a trembling child. It seemed like the list of things that scared her was getting longer and longer than it should be. Funny how they all traced back to Clarke – the idea of Lexa falling for her and the blonde feeling the same; and then here came Lincoln's words lecturing her about love. It wasn't like she didn't have know what love was. Lexa Woods knew what it was like to love somebody. She loved her mother. But she killed her. What if history would have to repeat itself? She would fall in love with Clarke Griffin, but then she would have to kill her because after all, the code was Fidelity to Trikru.  
"I'll stay in my post until Trikru officially terminates the mission and orders me to get out of here," was all she replied.  
A little disappointed by the response, Lincoln half-heartedly nodded his head.  
"And Lexa?" Lincoln spoke one more time, causing the brunette to turn her gaze towards him. "Right now I really don't know what's going on in that hazy head of yours. We may or may not be on the same side of the game at the moment. But I am definitely not your enemy… _Never_. Because you will always be like a sister to me. I need you to believe that. I want you to remember that."  
Lexa let out a small huff and slowly nodded. Maybe Lincoln was right, she was having a significant identity crisis at the moment. Nevertheless, there would always be a last choice – the most permanent option of them all – to be Lincoln’s family. For the meantime, it was undoubtedly the easiest decision to make.

\----------

"Wow. Just wow." Raven shook her head and slowly clapped her hands with the right amount of sarcasm as she fixed her eyes on the brunette bodyguard. "The sun is burning up in the sky; everybody is exposing a lot of skin; and you, Lexa Branson, are still wearing that silly black leather jacket and your pair of black boots in Miami beach. Wow. Way to set a trend here, huh? Seriously, I am truly amazed by your incredibly tasteless guts and your very weird lifestyle preferences."  
Lexa rolled her eyes at the comment and stood by the other beach chair compulsorily determined not to wipe off the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.  
" _Don't say I didn't tell you so._ "  
Anya was stiffing a laugh while trying to erase the mental picture of her partner in crime looking like some kind of a vampire in the middle of a sunny beach in Florida. Thankfully, Raven had the beach umbrella up to shield them from the sunlight and Lexa from the rest of the scrutinizing eyes of the public.  
"Well, if it's not going to hurt your too alternative I'm-such-a-badass image so much, which by the way you're apparently trying to protect every second of your life by remaining consistent to your signature wardrobe, feel free to occupy that chair supposedly reserved for my missing best friend and join me in enjoying this Bellamy-free moment."  
" _For fuck's sake, Lexa, just take the offer and please sit down for once._ "  
So the brunette let out a defeated sigh and reluctantly sat on the vacant beach chair. The sneering Raven Reyes consequently pushed the other a glass of iced cold juice on the small table towards her companion.  
"Have a drink," she offered before putting her pair of shades back on and leaned back in her chair to relax. "Where the hell is your boss anyway, huh? I thought you’re supposed to be trailing her 24/7?"  
"She's with the douchebag," the bodyguard muttered in response. "Said the knight-in-a-phony-shining-armor will be able to protect her, so… my services are not needed at the moment. They sent me to you instead."  
" _Don't worry. She's on my tracking device._ "  
The dark-haired woman started laughing at her best friend's conviction. It had already happened twice – Bellamy Jacobs getting beaten up by the same woman – but still, Clarke just wouldn't get the point. Moreover, the manifestations of the guy being a natural jerk were everywhere, but there she was again, waiting for some miracle to finally happen.  
"You know, sometimes," Raven told her companion, "I'd love to see you throw her a hard punch. A really hard one, please? Then maybe, just maybe, that can put some sense into her stupid head."  
" _And then you'll be in one hell of a trouble with her rich and powerful mother._ "  
Lexa sighed heavily struggling to stretch out her very short patience.  
"I really hate that Bellamy," the other started muttering as she lamentably shook her head. "I hate him. I really, really hate him. I swear to God I hate him."  
"Then why are you here? Why did you accept his invitation?" questioned Lexa.  
Frantically, Raven removed her shades and turned to her side so Lexa could see the wrath displayed on her face.  
"First of all, I did _not_ accept his invitation. Your idiot boss dragged me down here to Florida against my will. Hear that? _Against_ my will. Secondly, Clarke is paying for all of this, so it's not like I'm going to owe that douchebag something. Besides... look at the view, Branson. It's Miami! You don't pass up _Miami_."  
" _She's right._ "  
But the brunette already had her attention on the conversation diminishing every second, showing no more interest in anything else that would come out of the young woman’s mouth.  
"But I'm not going to that beach party tonight," Raven's voice passed through one ear to another. "I'd rather go shopping or party at some club somewhere. I'm sorry, but you're going to be on your own tonight, Branson."  
Hearing this, Lexa reached for the glass of beverage and took a drink, finally leaning back in her chair. Let's face it, she needed some rest too and what could be the more perfect time than this? She closed her eyes and attempted to drift off to sleep while technically, she was temporarily off duty. It didn't surprise her anymore, unlike the first time it happened, that when she closed her eyes, she was looking directly into Clarke's bright blue ones. It had been almost a week of waiting since the confrontation with Lincoln; still, no termination or further instruction was released from Trikru. But Lexa knew it was going to come inevitably. With no real treasure to find, this mission would soon be over. Before long, she would have to quit her undercover job as the bodyguard. Eventually, she would have to leave Clarke and probably never see her again for the rest of her life. She figured then that it was certainly the time to start getting used to the blonde's absence. Guess she would just have to deceive herself that it was actually what she wanted.  
"I can't believe you still haven't figured it out," Raven's voice penetrated Lexa's thoughts much to her dismay, but the brunette chose to ignore it otherwise. "There is no way in hell that Clarke hasn't told you about Bellamy's promise yet."  
Lexa didn't speak or move.  
"So you should know by now the reason why I sent you to take my best friend to her father's grave," the blonde added.  
But the bodyguard still offered no response.  
"Lexa!" she called out.  
The brunette kept her eyes closed and her breathing as steady as possible making her appear deeply asleep. Raven gave one last look at her before leaning back in her chair once more. She let out a loud sigh thinking her efforts were useless. The truth was, Lexa was listening. If the other was trying to imply that she purposely set them up, Lexa had heard her words and understood exactly what they meant. But perhaps, Raven's efforts were useless as Lexa Branson had finally decided to cut off any feelings she had for Clarke.

\----------

Kane tapped the end button on his phone screen, shoved it into his pocket, and then irately ran his eyes over the rest of the men in black suits. The phone conversation did not go smoothly.  
"What the fuck has happened to your research assignment?" he asked nobody in particular, words filled with rage and ready to burst into shouting at any moment. "I thought I said I want it done immediately!"  
Nobody from the group offered a response, and that did it, the head of security started yelling at them in no time.  
"Where on earth is her fucking profile, you bunch of idiots?"  
"I-It's all there is, sir," one nervously reported. "Lexa Branson has a very clean profile."  
Kane angrily grabbed him by the collar, and so the man trembled in fear.  
"And you honestly think that's the kind of report I want to hear?"  
"O-Of course not, sir," the man quickly shook his head. His superior released him from the grip, and then glared at the rest of the group.  
"No one has a profile as clean as this, we all have our flaws. Find hers. I want her out of the picture! Do you understand?"  
While the rest of the group fretfully nodded their heads, from out of the blue, Paul raised his hand. Kane turned his gaze towards him, and signaled to proceed with his statement.  
"Will it really matter if the kid is out of the picture?" Paul asked as innocently as possible. "I mean, for one, it's all against one. She's not going to stand a fight, you know it. Plus, will getting her out of the picture change Madam Griffin’s mind? So what if her daughter's bodyguard is out? She won’t change her plans."  
"Everybody who feels threatened and vulnerable is always forced to move to Plan B, Paul. There's nowhere else to go but Plan B."  
"So you think Plan B includes her finally revealing the secret to you?"  
Kane paused for a moment as he slowly walked towards the older man, making a halt right in front of him. He tilted his head to the side and questioned, "What are you trying to get at?"  
"There has to be a reason why Griffin won't tell you the secret," the other simply replied.  
"And what do you think that is?"  
"I'm just thinking," Paul started, his eyes briefly looked down at his feet for a last minute contemplation before directing his eyes back to his superior. "Maybe it isn't Branson who has to prove her loyalty to Abigail Griffin. Maybe it's you, Marcus."  
"I've been working for her for years," Kane quietly hissed.  
"Yet she trusted that Echo more than she has ever trusted you."  
At that the head of security shut his mouth. It was true. Abigail Griffin trusted Echo enough to tell her about the secret. Kane was only entrusted with security plans. It was unfair and gut-wrenching when you've been rendering services to the woman your entire life.  
"Abigail Griffin may have an army of her own," Paul added, "but she knows too well that only those who could be trusted can truly protect herself and her daughter."  
"So you think she trusts Branson over me," the man bitterly concluded.  
The other pursed his lips together and shrugged his shoulders.  
"Well, Branson is entrusted with Griffin's greatest riches… are you?"  
Kane angrily turned towards the rest of the security group much to their surprise. He gritted his teeth and balled his fists. Letting out a frustrated gasp, he launched another dagger look at the battalion of men in black suits, and then ordered, "Find that fucking flaw and get her out of here!"  
Everybody frantically moved to work on the research assignment desperate to dig in the necessary dirt they were asked to before Kane could burst out again. However, Paul coolly pulled out a cigarette and marched out of the room. There was no point in staying with the rest of them. He knew his comrades were wasting their time trying to trace Lexa Branson because there was no Lexa Branson to begin with. He was done with his own research and he had already found the perfect flaw. Too bad though, he owed his life to Lexa _Woods_.

\----------

The past several minutes were probably the worst moment in Lexa's life. Pretending to be asleep, she had to endure Raven's stories about a stupid yet popular reality television show to a friend she was talking to on the phone.  
"I'll see you in a few days. Ciao."  
_Finally_ , Lexa thought to herself. The atmosphere was then filled with silence… except for the sound of waves rushing to the shore, the roars of the guys playing Frisbee, and Anya loudly munching some chips at the other end of the line. Okay, so it wasn't that silent. Still, Lexa went on to find her peace of mind, determined to finally fall asleep.  
"Lexa, you awake?" Raven's voice rang in her ears once again and Lexa struggled not to snap. The other waited for her company to move or say something, but the bodyguard remained still. Perhaps, you just couldn't wake up somebody who was already awake.  
"I'm glad you haven't killed each other yet."  
Apparently, with Lexa you could. As soon as Clarke's voice reached her ears, the brunette shot her eyes open and stood on her feet. Suddenly, her jaw involuntarily dropped down, caught unprepared in amazement at the sight of the bikini-clad blonde. It wasn't the first time she'd seen her exposed, but for some reason, this time was different - this time, there definitely was a chance that she would have called 'dibs' on this woman. Without realizing, her eyes lingering down Clarke’s almost naked body, before coming back up to meet Clarke's awkward why-are-you-looking-at-me-like-that look. A few more seconds and Lexa finally came back to her senses, hurriedly looking away in embarrassment. _Fuck_. A heads up from Anya could have been greatly appreciated.  
"Finally, you decided to show up."  
Thanks to Raven for trying to divert everyone's attention from the uncomfortable scenario. Lexa purposely cleared her throat while her boss forced her usual charming smile and turned to her best friend.  
"Care to join me for a little walk?" she asked the blonde.  
Raven automatically nodded her head and stood up. The two started to walk away and Lexa moved to trail behind them as part of her bodyguard duties. However, Clarke stopped her immediately and asked her to stay.  
"We won't go too far," the blonde assured. "You can stay right here."  
The usual blank stare was stained with a bit of confusion. Never did the young Griffin ask her to stay away. Not even when she was pretending to be mad at her. Hence, it was quite strange that for once she didn't want the brunette to stay close to her. Even Raven was taken aback, maintaining a watchful eye at the two. What was up?  
" _She has her phone. I'll keep my track on. Don't worry._ "  
So despite her personal disapproval, Lexa compellingly nodded her head and watched the two walk away. Sooner or later anyway, she would be back to her old life where this girl didn't exist. Might as well start getting used to not spending 24/7 together.

\----------

"So what's up?" asked Raven turning her eyes to her best friend who was obviously getting more fidgety with every step they took.  
Clarke glanced at the other but failing to speak out, the hurriedly looked away and sighed.  
"Hey," Raven grabbed her best friend for a halt. "What's going on, Clarke?"  
The blonde breathed out and shrugged her shoulders, but still no words came out of her mouth.  
"Is there something wrong? Where's your boyfriend? Did the douchebag do something bad again?"  
Clarke shook her head.  
"Then what is it? Come on, Clarke. You're making me worry here."  
The blonde tore away from their eye contact to stare down at her feet. After a few more sighs and gestures of hesitation, she finally looked back to meet Raven's eyes.  
"Bellamy asked me to marry him," she spoke out.  
Raven Reyes gasped in utter disbelief, her mouth and eyes wide open. She subsequently shook her head disapprovingly at her nervous best friend. Why oh why on earth did this day have to come? Her beloved best friend to marry a tool in the form of Bellamy Jacobs? No way!  
"What did you tell him?" she asked. But before Clarke could even utter a word, Raven held a hand up to stop her. "Don't tell me you said 'yes'. Please, Clarke. For the love of God, please don't tell me you said 'yes'... 'cause if that's the case, I swear I'm just going to drown myself here."  
"Well…" Clarke's voice trailed off as she began playing with her phone - her hand noticeably failed to display an engagement ring much to her best friend's relief. "I told him I would think about it first."  
"Great!" the dark-haired woman rejoiced. "You should really-"  
"But then he got very persistent, Raven; asked me if I love him… and if I do, then I should marry him."  
Raven could see the worst fast approaching and the only thing she could do was to firmly shake her head in denial, "No, Clarke."  
"So I eventually said 'yes'," the blonde officially announced causing betrayal to run through Raven.  
"You are so fucking stupid, Clarke."  
And Clarke nodded her head in agreement and muttered, "Yeah, maybe I am."  
"You know what I said about you acting like a 12-year-old kid most of the time?" the other struggled to contain her frustration as she harshly wiped a tear away. "I take it back. I am taking it back because this decision you’re making is much more immature than that. This is completely stupid, Clarke. You're going to marry the worst guy on earth--"  
"I never expected you to agree with this. I never expected you to be happy about it. No, not even try to pretend. But at least I was hoping that you could somehow act like my best friend!"  
"I _am_ your best friend, Clarke. I've been trying to tell you all this time how much of a jerk that guy is. I'm trying to protect you here. I am telling you right now that you shouldn't marry this guy because I am your fucking best friend. That's what a so-called best friend would do."  
Clarke sighed then lowered her head slightly. "Then I'm sorry. But it's going to happen, Raven. I'm going to marry Bellamy."  
"You don't have to!" the other exclaimed in protest. "Why the hell are you doing this?"  
The blonde simply chuckled with disbelief in response.  
"Clarke," Raven pleadingly groaned as she moved closer to her best friend and held her shoulders.  
"I'm doing this… because I think I'm falling for someone else."  
"...What?"  
Clarke directed her eyes towards her best friend and wore a sad smile. "I think I'm falling for someone else, Raven."  
"Then break up with the douche!" frustratingly ordered the other. "Don't marry him!"  
"But I shouldn't be falling for this other person," Clarke shook her head. "It's too much of a miracle to be loved by-"  
"Lexa," Raven cut her off. "It's Lexa, isn't it?"  
The blonde didn't respond. Instead, she stared down at her feet and let out a huff.  
"Maybe it is too much of a miracle to be loved by a crazy creep," her best friend agreed. "But at least she would make you truly happy."  
"What if she wouldn’t?" challenged the blonde. "I bet it would be painful, I couldn’t handle it. At least with Bellamy, I don't think there's anything else he could do to hurt me more."  
With that, Raven froze in place just staring at her best friend. Who knew how much time had passed before she threw her arms around Clarke for a tight embrace. Why was this happening? Clarke Griffin might have been a 23-year-old grown woman who was trying to make this mature decision when in fact she was just a fragile child hopelessly waiting for all her miracles to happen. It wasn’t fair at all.

\----------

Lincoln entered the Research Room with a pack of beers on hand. He placed it on the table and sat in the chair across Octavia who was deeply preoccupied with her own paper works.  
"Killed a Mountain Man today," the guy proudly pronounced. "Take a break and join me in celebration? Anya said you've been working here all day."  
But the brunette shook her head.  
"Maybe later. I'm trying to finish this report. Gustus is expecting it tonight."  
"What is that all about anyway?"  
Octavia paused for a moment wondering if she should tell Lincoln. Was it confidential? Well, Gustus didn't tell her so.  
"I'm plotting the other potential locations of the treasure. Gustus will be sending his guards to go check on them."  
The other looked very surprised. "So they're, like, part of the team now?"  
Again, Octavia paused. Apparently, the team was growing but the rest of the members were not well-informed about the moderate changes in the plan, just as she had guessed. The 2 guards were added and so was Niylah and of course, Costia. Should she tell Lincoln about all of them?  
"Well, Gustus wants to find the treasure fast," she nervously shrugged.  
"But Lexa already said there's no treasure."  
"Well, this is his order."  
"We could be wasting our time here."  
"So you do believe that there's no treasure?" Octavia questioned, and Lincoln couldn't give an answer. The man looked away and reached for a bottle of beer.  
"You know there has to be a treasure, Lincoln."  
The other let out a sigh and stared down at the table.  
"If he's sending his men to check on the potential locations, what about Lexa then?"  
Octavia shook her head in response.  
"I only know what Gustus asks me to do. I don't know about how the rest of the plan would go. But surely, Lexa is still a major player in this. She has a very strategic position. When the time comes, Gustus will have an important task for her.  
Lincoln chuckled. "We can't afford to lose her, yet she's so exposed in the field."  
"Well, we all have a mission to accomplish." A pause was left in the air before Lincoln quietly spoke up again.  
"What does it feel like to kill someone, Octavia?"  
Startled, Octavia finally stopped working, dropped her pen, and grabbed a beer to drink.  
"You’ve killed more people than me, surely you already know how it feels."  
"True," the other nodded casually. "But your first and only kill is Echo. She was your best friend, right? You two were close. Tell me, what did it feel like?"  
"I-I…" Octavia stuttered then paused. "It's… the hardest thing to do... But there's a code, and I had to do it. I guess… it was for me to prove my Fidelity to Trikru."  
"Congratulations then," the other raised his beer in honour and then took a big gulp of the alcohol.  
"It's no big deal. Everybody has to prove their fidelity anyway."  
Again, Lincoln sadly chuckled.  
"Yet I have never proven mine."  
"What?" Octavia quickly restrained herself from spitting out the liquid from her mouth.  
"Gustus took me in because Lexa requested."  
With that, Lincoln took another swig of his beer while his friend stared at him, silently wondering about Lincoln’s past. How was it that he still had to prove his fidelity? What kind of a mission would he have to accomplish for it? Worse, knowing his luck with Gustus, who would he have to kill?

\----------

"Where's Raven?"  
Lexa Branson turned around to see that Clarke had joined her at the terrace of the enormous suite. This time she was wearing a blue summer dress, complimenting her bright blue eyes that the bodyguard couldn't help but gaze upon.  
"She went out," the brunette answered.  
"Did she say where?"  
"Nowhere specific. She only said she was going to get wasted tonight because…" Lexa's voice suddenly trailed off as she thought about the reason, a brief ache running through her heart. "…Because you're getting married… to Bellamy."  
Clarke let out a small, disbelieving laugh. Was it really that hard to accept the news? It's as if it was some sort of an unspeakable truth.  
"Well, aren't you going to congratulate me on my engagement?"  
"And why would I do that?"  
" _Bitter_."  
The blonde threw her a look and folded her arms over her chest authoritatively.  
"Because this occasion is one of the happiest moments of life."  
"But you don't look happy," Lexa argued and her boss had to shut her mouth in surrender. Clarke let her arms fall down to her sides and stared back at her bodyguard. Was it really that obvious?  
" _Just let her go, Lexa. You still have Costia waiting for you anyway._ "  
The brunette deliberately ignored Anya's half-meant joke while the awkward silence began dominating the entire terrace. Neither of the two spoke a word. The atmosphere was so quiet and tense that when the phone clenched in Clarke’s hand began to ring, the blonde jumped a little in surprise. Lexa watched her frantically slide on the phone screen to answer the call.  
"This is Clarke Griffin speaking," she stated and paused to let the other person speak. In an instant, Clarke's face crooked in confusion. "I-I'm sorry. You probably have the wrong number… What?"  
" _Fuck. This is not happening._ "  
_What was happening?_ , Lexa wanted to ask Anya who was currently wiretapping the blonde's ongoing phone conversation. But of course she couldn't. So instead, she patiently waited and watched her boss frown as the conversation progressed.  
"B-But… t-that's…" Clarke paused for a moment to pull herself together; her face suddenly as pale as a ghost, and the growing agitation was manifested in her struggle to formulate a sensible sentence. "Who is this? Wait! Hello? Hello?"  
" _This is not good._ "  
As much as she wanted to, Lexa couldn't do anything. She had to act like she was not pre-informed about the nature of the conversation. Her eyes fixed on the blonde who was disturbingly speechless with tears threatening to fall any moment.  
"Are you alright?" Lexa asked, her voice obviously reflected worry and concern.  
" _She's not._ "  
Clarke turned her eyes towards the brunette wearing a particular look on her face which Lexa had to try to resist only to fail each time.  
"I need you right now more than ever," was the blonde's reply. "Would you... come with me, please?"  
Even without knowing where exactly to go, the bodyguard positively nodded her head without any hesitation. Then as she followed Clarke Griffin to the door, Lexa came to this crucial realization that the time had come that she would do anything for this girl. That was not a good sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really good chapter coming up after this ;)


	12. Heartbreakers

# 12\. Heartbreakers

Clarke Griffin looked anxious, sad, and afraid all at the same time, and there was no doubt that the single phone call from an unknown caller was the cause. Because she didn't want to bother her boss anymore and Anya wouldn't tell her, Lexa Branson had no idea what was going on except from the fact that something terrible had happened, was happening, or would happen. Whatever the verb tense would be, she knew Clarke needed her, so she stayed close to the blonde even though the uneasy and too quiet elevator ride was killing her already.  
The elevator door slowly opened when they finally reached the 17th floor. Clarke dragged herself out with her bodyguard following behind. The blonde hurriedly strolled down the hallway, occasionally turning her head from one side to the other as if searching for a particular door, a particular room. Then, at the end of the hallway, at the last door, she finally stopped. Lexa stood right behind her as they both stared at the room number displayed on the wooden door.  
 _"I'm ready to open. Just give me the signal."_  
Clarke raised her trembling fist up supposedly to knock, but ended up dropping it back to her side. Lexa figured such gesture meant that the blonde's presence in this room was uninvited. But the young woman seemed to be too desperate to enter the premises, so the bodyguard walked past her towards the door and held on the knob.  
"Open," she muttered, ordered Anya to be exact and after a few more seconds, the installed security device lit green, signalling that the door was unlocked.  
For someone who didn't have any card key at hand in this particular moment, the act should have been suspicious but Clarke simply stood in place. So to give her a little drive, the bodyguard pushed the door open as soundless as possible to let her boss in. Hesitant at first, the blonde eventually started to walk, dragging herself further inside the room, her entire body shaking, bracing for the worst to happen.  
 _"Good luck."_  
Lexa heard Anya's warning and still wondered why. Nevertheless, she alertly trailed behind the blonde, anticipating a sudden attack from an enemy, prepared to pull her knife out from her pocket at any moment. But just as they got closer and closer to where the bed should be, loud moans and groans along with some heavy breathing became more evident to her hearing senses. It was then when she finally pieced the picture together.  
She quickly ran after Clarke, to block her way before she could pass by the wall, the only barrier keeping the 'terrible thing' from their sight; to stop Clarke’s heart from breaking but she was too late. The blonde was already standing at the foot of the bed where her so-called fiancé was banging the hell out of a slutty looking blonde.  
"Fuck you."  
Really, it was so amazing how Clarke had still managed to utter something without stammering and in the most fearsome voice that Lexa had ever heard from her, despite of the thunderous sound of her heart shattering into pieces.  
Bellamy and the girl instantly stopped and turned their heads to see the presence of the two unsolicited guests in the room. The guy frantically picked up the discarded shirt on the floor and used it to cover himself.  
"I can explain!"  
He started walking towards his most-likely-soon-to-be-ex-fiancé, but Clarke had already turned away and headed out. No, she's not going to give him the pleasure of seeing her hurt and miserable.  
"Clarke, wait!"  
Bellamy tried to follow, but her bodyguard stood in front of him, blocking the way. Irritated, he fixed a dagger look at her.  
"Get out of my way, bitch."  
"She doesn't want to talk to you, asshole."  
Annoyed, the douchebag pushed her violently, but Lexa furiously shoved him in return causing him to fall back down on the floor.  
"I want to hurt you so badly right now," she warned him.  
 _"Just do it."_  
Angered by the fact that he was losing to this woman once again, Bellamy pointed a threatening finger at her as he struggled to get back on his feet. However, without any more warning, Lexa pulled out her pocket knife and threw it accurately towards her target. In a matter of a second, Bellamy could only scream in pain when his hand was pinned down to the floor with the knife keeping it securely in place, as blood flooded out from the wound.  
 _"Ah, such a beautiful sound."_  
"I should have told you I'm better at long range."  
Lexa made one last look at the struggling man, and then at the clearly frightened blonde girl on the bed before exiting the room to look for her runaway boss. Just as Anya had informed her, the brunette found the young woman at the nearest fire exit; her entire body weakly leaning on the wall and her usual piercing bright blue eyes, filled with tears, were blank and distant. So Raven was definitely right - Clarke was this stupid. And apparently, Clarke was wrong once again. Surprisingly, there _was_ still something else that Bellamy could do to hurt her more, and it was the most painful of them all.  
Based on previous situations, this should have been the part where the typical Lexa would say 'cry me a river' or 'get over it'. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and her concerned eyes fixed on the blonde. She didn't know anything about giving comfort, but ultimately, she found herself slowly walking towards the wall, standing next to the blonde, and then leaning her back on it as well wishing along that she could somehow absorb some of the pain in the process – the agony to travel from Clarke's heart through the wall and towards hers. Clarke obviously needed her and Lexa needed to fix the broken heart as much as possible. She just hated seeing the blonde like this.  
 _"Say something. Do something."_  
Thank goodness Anya was there to coach her. In no time, the brunette deliberately turned to her side and sincerely said, "He just lost the most amazing woman in the world."  
 _"That's so sweet, Lexa."_  
Clarke then turned her head towards her bodyguard; her lips forming a weak, sad smile, and it was a relief for two reasons. First, it meant that Lexa's attempt to make her feel better was oddly successful. Secondly and far more importantly, it meant that Bellamy wasn't able to suck up all of her sunlight. No matter how little remained in there, the brunette was relieved to see some faint light after the darkest of the dark moments. Then from out of the blue, for the second time ever, Lexa Branson was wiping off the tears off Clarke's face, pulled her close, and hugged her tight much to the blonde's surprise. Well, Anya did say to do something.

\----------

When two parties met at the heart of an abandoned building, Kane and his men automatically had their guns pointed at the enemies. Threatened by this sudden move, Lincoln and the rest raised their guns as well.  
"Lower them!" Abby Griffin ordered her head security, and so the old man despite of his disagreement had no choice but to follow, forwarding the same instruction down to his inferiors.  
Seeing this, Gustus briefly waved his right hand, commanding his own men to put their guns away. He wore a smirk and directed his eyes towards his former friend.  
"I'm glad you haven't forgotten about this place."  
"You don't forget happy memories."  
"Memories," Gustus contemplated the concept then eventually chuckled. "They don't value much, Abby."  
His former friend shook her head, "Neither does money, Gustus."  
"Ah, that's the thing when you have plenty of resources. And you're lucky that you can say that. Because for somebody who doesn't have anything at all, money means the whole fucking world to them."  
The blonde frowned at the retort, tore her eyes away, and sighed.  
"I thought we were going to talk privately," she muttered.  
The older man turned to his 2 guards, and along with the other members of Trikru, they marched out towards the back of the building. Kane and the rest of the men in black suits simultaneously displaced, leaving the two heads on their own.  
"You didn't have to kill Echo," Abby stated.  
"Trikru is no place for traitors," reminded the other. "There is a code we all need to abide with. I should have you killed for betraying us as well."  
"But I'm still alive."  
"You still have the treasure."  
"We both know that you don't have the right to it."  
Gustus shook his head disapprovingly and firmly replied, "It belongs to Trikru."  
"Like hell it does!" the other replied bitterly in frustration. "I practically funded the fucking organization, Gustus. It's a dead one without me."  
"The treasure will suffice."  
"And then you'll _kill_ me," quickly added the other, voicing the truth. It was the only thing keeping her alive. The moment they would find the treasure, Abby would be nothing but disposable.  
The man simply nodded his head, "I'm glad you still know how it works."  
"You aren’t playing fair."  
Suddenly, Gustus Woods burst out into a fit of laughter as if Abigail Griffin had just made a hilarious joke.  
"Of all people, I never thought I'd hear you say that, Abigail." He let his laughter subside as he lowered his gaze, mind pondering the words of a former friend. "Of all people, I thought you were the one who shares the same idea with me on what 'playing fair' means... We grew up together; we know what it feels like to be scavengers in this cruel world; to be abandoned by a _selfish_ system of plutocrats... some moneybags who couldn't think about anything else but themselves."  
"Trikru saved me, I know. And I'll never forget that."  
"Yet I have to remind you of what unfair means, because you're so dressed up now that surely you’ve forgotten what it's like to shiver to death during the cold nights... to beg, to sleep on an empty stomach, to survive while you're practically dying. You might live in a mansion now, Abby, but there are people across the globe who desperately need that treasure which you can definitely spare."  
This time, Abby was the one to let out a bitter laugh, taking some steps forward until she was face-to-face with her former friend.  
"You know what's worse than watching lovers revert to strangers?"  
"What?"  
"Watching your _greatest_ friend become your worst enemy."  
At this, Gustus didn’t respond. Abby really was his best friend, his only family before Trikru came into the picture. But then he chose the code, and this was consequence.  
"This is probably the last friendly advice I can give you," Abby told him. "You don't save one's life by taking away another's... and you don't fool me, Gustus. Everybody has their own agenda. That's the sad reality."  
With that, the blonde gave a little pat on Gustus' shoulder and walked past him towards the way out of the abandoned building.  
"Just surrender the treasure, Abby," Gustus hurriedly turned around to make sure the other was still there to listen his demand.  
"Let's go treasure-hunting in Moscow, shall we?" Griffin replied without bothering to give a look. Instead, she continued to walk her path towards the exit where her security group was anxiously waiting. It was a quiet march out of hell until suddenly, she came to a halt. Turning around calmly, Abby fixed her eyes on Gustus for one last time. "And leave my daughter out of this."

\----------

Clarke quietly stood in place as she watched her mother hastily sign some documents in her home office. Her private jet bound to Moscow already awaited. Once in awhile, she would briefly flash a small smile whenever the older woman would glance up from her papers; she decided she couldn't give her mother the impression that she was actually in her worst state ever. Abigail Griffin already had a lot of things to worry about; her recent break up should be the last priority here.  
"I don't know how long I'll be gone," confessed the mother. "It's a very important business meeting, honey, so if you need anything just tell Gail about it. There's no need to call me overseas; I already gave her some instructions."  
"Yes, mom."  
"Half of the security will remain here for you with Paul to lead them. But of course, you have Lexa to stay with you all the time while I'm gone."  
"Yes..."  
Abby turned to the silent bodyguard standing attentively behind her boss. One quick glance and they both got the message.  
"Whenever and wherever, you must have somebody to accompany you, Clarke."  
"Yes, mom."  
Finally, the last document among the pile was signed. Abby pushed them aside for a man in a black suit to pick them up and carry them out of the office. The older Griffin stood up from her chair and walked over to her daughter.  
"I'm sorry I can't stay with you right now," she told her, gently holding Clarke’s chin. She knew. Of course, she knew what her daughter was going through. "You deserve someone better, sweetheart."  
Tears were threatening to fall one more time as the memory started to flash in Clarke’s mind again, but she forced a nod and a smile. She had to assure her mom that she was doing just fine.  
"Promise you'll hug me tight when you get back," she mumbled.  
Abby lowered her gaze not wanting her daughter to make out the truth in her eyes. Truth be told, she might not come back. Ever. So she let out a sigh and gave her a tight embrace probably for the last time.  
"I _need_ you to be safe, Clarke."  
"I will be. Don't worry."  
Abby finally released the young girl from her arms and looked at her face for one last time.  
"I love you."  
And for the first time since Bellamy crushed her heart back in Miami, Clarke felt truly happy, and the biggest smile in days was finally seen on her face.  
"I love you, too, mom."  
Abby held her cheeks as she gave a peck on top of Clarke’s head before walking out of the room with content in her chest along with all apprehensions. At least, it was a beautiful goodbye. If she would die in Moscow in the most dangerous treasure hunting, at least Clarke would remember her for such a beautiful goodbye – a loving mother and not a selfish woman.

\----------

Since the day her mother left, all the crying and late night sobbing had come to a stop, but unfortunately, Clarke's world was then confined within the walls of her bedroom. She would wake up in the morning, barely touch her breakfast set at a table by the balcony, followed by a quick shower, go back to bed, stare at her meal during lunch time, pretend to listen to Raven, endure yet another meal for the day, then let time pass until she would drift off for the night to the sound of Adele’s album, _25_. Repeat every step and that was the daily routine of the heartbroken blonde. Damn Adele for creating the perfect universal album for all the brokenhearted. And fuck Bellamy Jacobs for making Clarke Griffin one of them.  
It was the third day, the third afternoon to be exact, that Lexa Branson had figured out the routine. So everytime Raven reluctantly had to attend her social obligations for her father's sake, Lexa took it upon herself to stay inside the room with her boss. Her post was then unconsciously transferred from the carpeted floor of the bright hallway to the gloomy room behind the white door. Clarke didn't know it, but by the mere sight of her misery, Lexa's heart was dying along with hers. Every pain inflicted into her body and soul, Lexa felt them ten times harder and ten times more painful. Too bad though, no matter what, the scar Bellamy left was rather too permanent.  
 _"Try talking to her."_  
Anya's suggestion was a failed one just by the thought of it. What would she say? Lexa was never a talker to begin with. She was the worst at it… unless, of course, we include her rude comments, her sense of sarcasm, and the frequent cursing and death threats. It won't help to cheer up a heartbroken woman, definitely.  
 _"Come on, you've been with a lonely woman before. What do you do?"_  
What does Lexa do? Fuck her. A lonely woman would come and ask her to make her happy, and that's what she would do. Whether or not it actually fixed the broken heart, Lexa didn't care. She didn't even bother to ask at all. But Clarke Griffin was different. She's not just another lonely woman in Lexa's life. She was exceptional. She was someone the brunette actually cared about. So no, she's not just going to dismiss her like the other women.  
Thankfully, the door creaked open signalling the arrival of Raven. Lexa could finally breathe a little for the day; the dark-haired woman would surely know how to take it from there.  
"Any progress?" she quietly asked, joining the brunette on the couch. "Sorry, I needed to be at this dinner party."  
In response, Lexa raised her hand to present the blonde sitting on her sleeping bag on the balcony. And that was it. That was the only progress that day, if you could actually call it that in the first place. It was already ten in the evening, and instead of heading to bed to sleep, Clarke opted to stargaze on her own – wordless, soundless, and almost lifeless.  
" ‘All I Ask’," Raven recognized the tenth track on the album quietly playing inside the room.  
"It's the second round," said the other as a matter of fact.  
And so the young Reyes sighed heavily. It was bad. Clarke was never good at handling unfortunate circumstances – yes, she was known for that, but she was getting worse every day. For her best friend, it felt like Jake Griffin had died again and she could only helplessly watch the blonde sulk in the corner once more. Well, we all have Bellamy Jacobs to thank for this.  
"I'm still disappointed that you didn't slaughter the douche," she quietly hissed, glancing at the bodyguard for a brief glare before standing up to join her best friend on the balcony.  
Yeah, Lexa was disappointed in herself as well. She could have just killed the guy during their first encounter back at that restaurant, and none of this would have happened. Everything could have just ended back there, and maybe Clarke wouldn't be this miserable. Lexa would rather have Clarke hate her forever for killing her boyfriend out of the jealousy-she-wouldn't-admit than see her like this, slowly killing herself over the same jerk.  
"Come on, Clarke," Raven started shouting. "That guy doesn't deserve your tears."  
But the blonde didn't respond.  
"You shouldn't be here moping around in agony. In case you didn't notice, you haven't left this room in a week! You're supposed to be out there – go shopping, party, have as much fun as you can, celebrate the hell out of it because that's what you deserve! You're supposed to be happy and lively, not _this_."  
Still, no response.  
"If you're not yet tired of feeling sorry for yourself, well, the rest of us are tired of watching you unhappy. This has to stop, Clarke. I know you're hurting, but we are too. I'm sick of talking without you listening to me. I'm sick of trying to cheer you up when you're not even making an effort at all. And I'm sick of Adele singing her break up songs to you."  
"I'm sorry," was all the blonde's reply before drifting back to her own little world.  
Raven had no choice but to let out a deep sigh and hopelessly stare at her best friend. Bellamy better stay wherever he was hiding because she would undoubtedly murder him if she sees him.  
"Raven's right," Lexa spoke out. Surprisingly, Clarke turned her head towards the brunette. "You should go out."  
"You think?"  
Lexa looked over at Raven who was giving her this hopeful and beseeching look and she realized then that the ball was already on her hands. Clarke was finally listening, and she was listening to her.  
"I think…" Lexa's voice trailed off, pressured on what to say. She wasn’t not good at this and she'd admit that any day. But she had to say something. For Clarke. "I think you should take a break. All of us should take a break. Tonight."  
 _"And what do you mean by that?"_  
"It's been more than a week of drowning in the sea, and it's exhausting. I guess it's time for a bonfire or a barbeque thing at the shore. We need a break. And you need to know what it feels like to be alive again."  
Lexa shifted her eyes towards her boss. No smile crept on her lips, but at least she nodded her head. That was a good sign. Subsequently, Raven hurried to stop the music playing, and clapped her hands together in excitement.  
"Call your friends, Lexa," instructed the dark-haired woman. "Let's all hang out together."  
 _"I could definitely use a break!"_  
Lexa let out a huff. Yes, they all definitely needed a break. And so, mostly for Clarke's sake, she stood from the couch.  
"Let's go to Grounders then," she declared. "We'll surely find them there."  
Clarke eventually took Raven's extended hand and stood from her seat. Okay, fuck being brokenhearted. She was going to try to be alive again this evening. Along with the heartaches and pain, it seemed like her promise to her mother not to go back to that nightclub was about to be forgotten as well.

\----------

The evening was a break for everybody, for both the visible and hidden communication devices – Anya and Octavia agreed to create a fake recording to cover up for the report. Grounders seemed to be a good escape. It was a night without Gustus, Abby, stolen treasure, men in black suits, ex-fiancés, missions, codes, broken hearts, worries, pressures, and more. It was just a night intended for good times. And they had a club remix of _Intoxicated_ to go along with it.  
"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!"  
The rest of the group cheered for Clarke as she continued to play Power Hour all by herself. It was the fourth thirty minutes and her fourth mug of beer followed by all of them doing a shot of tequila. Hopefully they wouldn’t regret this too much in the morning.  
"Let’s do something else" Anya told nobody in particular.  
"Okay, let's," Raven paused to accommodate her hiccup.  
In her drunk state, Anya started rolling her sleeves up readying herself for a big bar fight.  
"We should fight someone!"  
"Dibs on Lexa's knife!" Raven quickly yelled raising her hands up in the air victoriously as if she had already won the battle.  
"R-Really, Reyes?" Clarke struggled to avoid slurring as she threw a behave-yourself look at her best friend.  
Nevertheless, Lexa was already pulling out the knife from her pocket then carefully set it down on the table. The blonde smacked her hand as a form of scolding, but the bodyguard already decided that she was serving no boss for the meantime. Too amused at the situation, she simply ignored the dagger look directed at her and leaned back in the couch.  
Anya and Raven raced to reach out for the knife only for the both of them to fail because Octavia was quick enough to pick it up first, confiscating it.  
"I don't want you two playing Hunger Games right now," she shook her head.  
"Well what should we do then?"  
"W-Well…" Octavia's voice trailed off, soon replaced by Lincoln’s.   
"We can play another game… a completely different one."  
"What game?"  
"You know," the guy started with a shrug. "A game that doesn't involve a knife, doesn't end up with some bloody faces or scratches. Something that is _safe_ and _not violent_ , perhaps."  
Clarke nodded her head in agreement, but Lexa didn't like the idea.  
"You're such a bore, Lincoln."  
He glared at Lexa and was about to make a retort when Clarke spoke up.  
"Debate!" The blonde yelled the first thing that popped into her mind. "You can do a debate."  
Anya gave her a disappointed look along with a bored one from Raven who put her hands on her hips as she wore the necessary sarcasm on her face. Clarke simply rolled her eyes at the responses she got from her so-called friends.  
"I like the idea," Lincoln encouraged, hopeful that verbal harm would be a better idea than physical violence. "We can choose a fun topic! Like... 'what should Clarke do to get over her ex?'"  
He earned glares for that.  
"Or… 'what kind of a creature Lexa is?'"  
Then, there was silence except for the club music blasting out loud in the background. Lexa consumed her bottle of beer in annoyance while Lincoln had a smirk on his face. Raven and Anya slowly exchanged looks as they started considering.  
"Dibs on demon!" Raven exclaimed smacking her hands on the table.  
Her rival snorted at the chosen argument.  
"Demons don't exist, you fruit basket. I say she's a Dothraki warrior in a flawless Greek goddess' body. That would explain her being ruthless."  
"Your argument is completely based on fiction! She's an evil spirit."  
Lexa let out an irritated huff before rising from her seat to walk away. Obviously, the two competitors were not about to be discreet or put restrain their words, not even in the presence of the subject of the debate. So she'd rather go to the bar and continue with good times on her own. But just as she sat on a bar stool, the bartender pointed out that a tipsy-looking blonde was heading her way.  
"Someone's gonna get laid tonight, eh?" he sneered at her before the blonde could finally settle on the stool next to Lexa. Unexpectedly, she stole the bottle of beer from the counter and drank it all ending with a flushed and a disgusted look on her face.  
"T-Thirty minutes… has passed," she reminded in her slurred speech.  
Lexa glared at the bartender when he tried to offer another alcoholic drink to the clearly vulnerable blonde.  
"Come on, Lexa. Y-You don't need to scare everybody off."  
"Stop drinking now," the other said pulling away the empty bottle. "Game's over, and it's bad for you."  
" _I_ … am… a 23-year-old g-grown woman."  
"Yeah, and a pretty stubborn one."  
"Y-You think I'm pretty?"  
Lexa deliberately made a pause, turned to the blonde to examine the look on her face. Clarke stared back at her, unyielding. She looked serious enough, but she was drunk too which made everything more complicated for the brunette.  
"Let's go dancing," the blonde invited, to which the other firmly declined. "Oh come on."  
The blonde grabbed the bodyguard by the hand and dragged her towards the partying crowd. In her drunken state, Lexa could have easily knocked her out or shoved her away in protest, but because it was Clarke Griffin, she patiently stood in the middle of all the dancing bodies while the blonde tried to join in the fun. The very quiet cricket, not to mention a party Grinch this time, watched her intently. Clarke was dancing like crazy like everybody else, but she still stood out to Lexa, as if the rest of the world had faded away. If only Clarke wasn't heartbroken. Yeah, she could laugh and dance and scream all night, but she still looked totally heartbroken. Again, fuck Bellamy.  
"Why aren't you dancing?" Clarke yelled out her question for the bodyguard to hear.  
"I don't dance," the other yelled back.  
The blonde stopped for a moment. She moved to get closer to her company, but somebody in the crowd obliviously pushed her forward. With her poor balance due to the excessive alcohol drinking, she could have easily ended up on the floor and be trampled by the dancing crowd. Thankfully, Lexa caught her in her arms.  
Then there it was again – emeralds meet oceans. The unfamiliar electricity was back, and the feeling of kissing each other was right around the corner. Maybe it was the alcohol, but it felt like the dance floor was closing in on them – their bodies physically in contact; eyes glued on one another; spheres of breath overlapping; hearts beating faster than usual; faces dangerously too close to back down. Clarke was about to close her eyes for the most desirable kiss when suddenly, a loud scream penetrated the entire atmosphere.  
Raven and Anya were already engaged in a catfight, wrestling each other on the floor. So they ultimately decided to ditch the debate then. Octavia hurried to lift Anya off the other before some bones were broken while Lincoln helplessly stood at the side not knowing what to do. Clarke immediately let go from Lexa's grip to rescue her best friend; the bodyguard following closely behind her to assist Octavia. The kiss had to be put on hold.

\----------

Anya sported a small bruise on her arm but had Octavia to attend her needs back at her room in the Trikru quarters, while her rival, a very drunk Raven was sprawled at the back of Clarke's car peacefully asleep. Despite Lexa's assurance that she could manage to drive them safely, Clarke insisted on waiting for the alcohol to wear off first. Hence, the Range Rover was parked solo in the area. Lexa and Clarke were seated at the trunk through the cold breeze while listening to Raven's adorable snores.  
"Anya is crazy," Lexa told her boss, her attempt of an indirect apology. She would say 'I'm sorry' but she was reminded that apology doesn't bring back the dead. That's what she believed in, and this blonde shouldn't be changing that.  
"So is Raven," the blonde chuckled.  
The bodyguard simply nodded her head in agreement.  
"I haven't thanked you yet," Clarke turned to the brunette seated at her side, her face was serious once again. "For saving my life back at the party, for being there in Miami… I haven't thanked you yet."  
"It's my job to protect you."  
The other chuckled once more.  
"Your job… My mother says it so and suddenly it's your job. Do you remember the first time we met?"  
Lexa let out an annoyed huff as a response. Of course, how could she forget that hullabaloo that came crashing into her Aston Martin first thing in the morning?  
"You almost ran me over, yet you were the one who was so angry to death like I was a huge burden to you," Clarke smiled as she reminisced. "It was the first time that I got to look in your eyes, your dark green eyes. And I don't know… I was supposed to be scared by your wrath, but instead, something told me that you could help me, that you could save me, and so I made you drive me home. You wouldn't tell me your name then. Literally, I didn't know anything about you, but right then and there, I already started to trust you."  
Her company had transformed into a very quiet cricket again. Well, maybe it was the statement. Clarke should stop telling her about trust because it was just making her feel guilty. She shouldn't trust her, of all people.  
"Exactly like this," the blonde pointed out. "You let me talk and talk, and you never bothered to respond."  
Lexa stared at her for a brief moment, before turning her eyes away.  
"And tonight, it feels like history has repeated itself. Back then, I was heartbroken. Bellamy left me like some kind of a disposable cup… and you were there to pick me up. Obviously, you don't know what to do with me, but you keep on picking me up anyway."  
The brunette sighed heavily, not amused by the analogy.  
"You are _not_ a disposable cup."  
"Then what am I?" the other questioned. "If I'm not a disposable cup, why does Bellamy treat me like one?"  
"Bellamy is a _jerk_."  
"Why do people treat me like a child? Why can't everybody take me seriously like I'm some kind of a joke?"  
"You are _not_ a joke."  
"Then what am I? Tell me."  
Lexa turned to her abruptly, determined to make Clarke realise.  
"You are the most beautiful person I've ever met in my entire fucking life."  
That made the blonde stop. Thank goodness, it was still dark; she could easily hide the blush growing on her cheeks.  
"And it is so frustrating that you’re this heartbroken when you don't deserve it at all," the brunette added. "I wish… I wish I could do something to fix it."  
That was it. Clarke had seen _the_ opportunity, and she was going to seize it. No more stopping her. She was heartbroken, and they were on a break; she had all the reason to do it right at this very moment.  
"Kiss me," she muttered, her hopeful eyes were suddenly directed at Lexa. "I _want_ you to kiss me."  
Lexa could only stare back at her, dumbfounded and nothing else. Clarke knew it wasn't the easiest to ask from her. The woman _never_ kissed anybody, and maybe would never kiss anybody, so it was only reasonable that the brunette ended up rejecting the demand. But Clarke needed her. Lexa could be the only one who could repair her broken heart. So Clarke waited and waited. Who knew how much time passed after she made the statement? Lexa wasn't moving nor breathing at all.  
"Forget it," the blonde shook her head sadly and moved her gaze away. How stupid was she to think that Lexa would simply give up something she believed in for her. How stupid to think that all this time the two of them had a connection.  
But then the brunette placed a hand on Clarke's cheek, delicately pulling her face towards her. Lexa stared into piercing bright blue eyes, her favorite habit, while the blonde was inevitably drawn to shades of dark green once again. Without warning, Lexa was leaning in, the distance between their lips was getting shorter and shorter every second, that the other could already breathe the same air as the brunette. Before long, Lexa's lips had touched hers, and the rest of the world was already gone.  
It was gentle and sweet and romantic, the kiss. It was amazing how Lexa was capable of it, really. Like Clarke was just too precious for her that she had to be careful, scared to death that she might break her apart.  
"What do you feel?" Clarke quietly asked when the kiss came to a pause. She had to ask because for her, it was magic. She felt complete and alive once again. It was as if it was all she had been waiting for her whole life. She needed to know if Lexa felt the same.  
Lexa pulled her hand away from the angelic face and looked away.  
" _Nothing_ ," she lied in whispered response.  
And that was it. One word, and Clarke's heart was shattering to a thousand pieces all over again. And that's when she realized that all this time, it was Lexa. No, Bellamy did not break her heart. In fact, he made it stronger in enduring everything he did. But it was Lexa who made her feel vulnerable and fragile. Lexa was the heartbreaker. Clarke was heartbroken not because Bellamy cheated on her, it was highly expected anyway. But she was heartbroken because Lexa Branson would never feel the same way for her. She should be running away, and never looking back, but she only found herself falling even more.


	13. Reparations

# 13\. Reparations

Morning came, just as unpleasant as the mornings that came before that. Clarke Griffin woke up with a throbbing head, a positive sign of a terrible hangover. She massaged her temple as she helped herself sit up on the bed and then rubbed her eyes open to begin the new day. As always, her bright blue eyes met with a brunette woman first thing in the morning.  
"Good morning," the bodyguard greeted in such a monotonous voice, but her boss knew she was trying hard enough to make it as enthusiastic as possible as they had agreed upon on her first day of duty.  
Lexa waited for a comment, an annoying remark to be exact from her partner in crime through the hidden earpiece, but nothing came. Anya had clearly drifted back to sleep to nurse her own hangover. Raven was probably in the same state.  
"Good morning," Clarke greeted back in a fatigued voice, a small smile plastered on her lips. It was a rather unusual sight since they came back from Miami. But then, on this day, she swore that there should be no more room for the brokenhearted. Perhaps, only a secret lovesick fool instead, as she looked into dark green eyes longingly.  
"Here," the brunette walked over to the bedside table to offer Advil along with a glass of water, which she had prepared herself especially for her boss. "It's for your headache."  
"Thanks."  
Clarke immediately took the medicine with Lexa's concerned assistance. Before long, the young heiress found herself quietly staring at the same woman once again – studying her facial features, those facial features she would gladly trace with her fingertips. It was funny how all this time Lexa Branson had remained to be an unsolved mystery to her. How can someone be familiar and unfamiliar simultaneously? And the things that she would do for the blonde; how can such a threat be her safe haven all at the same time?  
"Something wrong?" Lexa asked innocently. She really had no idea why bright blue eyes were staring at her longer than necessary.  
_Something wrong?_ The blonde could have easily nodded her head in assertion. Yes, something was definitely wrong, and it was the fact that the brunette was acting all too insensible and oblivious of Clarke's feelings. Had she forgotten about the kiss? Was she really that insensitive that she could just act like she didn't plant a sweet and gentle and romantic kiss on her lips only a few hours ago? Well, Clarke couldn't blame Lexa. After all, the brunette did say 'nothing' and maybe that was all there really was. _Nothing_. So instead, the young heiress shook her head in response.  
" _Nothing_ ," she answered with an underlying bitter tone. After a pause, Lexa rose from the bed to go open the balcony door inviting the fresh air and sunlight into the room.  
"You're not a good liar. I thought I should let you know."  
Clarke got out of the bed and proceeded to help the bodyguard tie up the curtains to let more light in, as the atmosphere in the room began to grow suffocating.  
"So you think I'm lying," she bit back. "Why would you think that? Tell me, is there something wrong that I should have answered you otherwise?"  
The brunette sighed. There she was – Clarke was giving herself away. If she wanted to lie, at least she shouldn't be talking in such a way that she was never accustomed to.  
"Seriously, Lexa, tell me," the young woman demanded when she received no additional answer from her company. "Is there something wrong?"  
"That's not the way you talk."  
Clarke chuckled at the observation as she turned around to face the bodyguard. Was she amused or offended in some odd way, Lexa wasn't sure.  
"I never thought you'd notice the way I talk. No, not even with a 24/7-hour duty; I never thought you'd actually care about _anything_ about me. I thought you're simply here trying to do a job."  
Suddenly, Clarke's words were starting to become a twisted puzzle for the quiet cricket.  
"I guess I was wrong then because you actually know the way I talk."  
Lexa stared at her for a moment trying to make out any sense from the unfamiliar facial expression displayed on her angelic face, but only to fail.  
"I don't really know how to feel about that," the blonde shook her head slowly. "Should I be happy that you are able to notice these little things about me? Or should I be sad that maybe it was just part of your job description after all?"  
The quiet cricket, with furrowed eyebrows, tilted her head to the side in confusion. Too many riddles in the morning. Too many questions that didn't make so much sense from a woman with a hangover.  
"Okay, fine. I lied," Clarke briefly bit her lower lip as she ultimately confessed. "But that's the first and last time I'm going to lie to you. I promise."  
Guilt came knocking on the door again; Lexa had already lied to her a hundred times. And now here was Clarke, who was feeling so bad about lying to her just once.  
"Now tell me the truth," the blonde begged. "Tell me in all honesty, Lexa… are you really so much of a horrible _monster_ that you can't feel anything? Because last time I checked, even monsters feel something."  
Lexa finally understood. She knew where this conversation was coming from and where it was going. And she could only watch the despair grow on Clarke’s face. She had to look away before she could eventually end up getting out of character again.  
"Maybe I'm better off a walking dead. That's how people see me anyway. Is that good enough for you? Do I seem to suit the terms and definitions and descriptions you need?"  
The pain was beginning to sting a little more. The truth that the brunette really had felt nothing was becoming more and more concrete to the blonde. Clarke, nevertheless, would try to squeeze something out of this dead person. Come on, even zombies and vampires feel something. Even zombies and vampires do fall in love. They fall in love even with the most unexpected person and even in the most forbidden kind. So maybe Lexa Branson could do that too. No matter how little the size of that chance could be, maybe she could fall in love too.  
"I'm not what you think I am," the bodyguard told her as if she had just read Clarke's thoughts. "And I'm not what you think I can be."  
Okay, so maybe zombies and vampires can fall in love, but the problem is, as Clarke had missed, was that they were all just elements of fiction love stories. Some kind of a make believe. But Lexa Branson here was real, and quite real enough not to feel anything.  
"I told you that you're much more than this bulletproof character," the blonde muttered as she took a few steps forward moving closer to the brunette. "That's what I believe in. Whether you want to admit it or not, you let me in, Lexa. But I guess you've just pushed me out again."  
_Avoid eye contact_ , Lexa thought. _Just avoid eye contact._  
"I just want you to know…" Lexa's heart stopped for a moment when Clarke raised her hand supposedly to touch her bodyguard's face. However, when it was just a few inches away, she put it back to her sides, and Lexa could finally breathe again. "I'm right here… _waiting_ … until you decide you're ready to feel something."  
"Nothing," the brunette found the courage to insist, the pain stinging more and more. There's that fucking word again. "I feel nothing."  
"But when we ki-"  
"You have to go get yourself ready now," Lexa quickly cut her off. No, she couldn't let Clarke finish that sentence, not with the presence of the hidden communication device recording everything, or they would be in a lot more trouble than this emotional rollercoaster ride they were already caught up in. "Breakfast will be ready in a few. Your mother’s assistant Gail is already in the garden; she'll be joining you this morning."  
A small nod was the blonde's only response.  
Fuck. Lexa looked into those bright blue eyes and sighed. Any moment she might fall out of character, and let her feelings in once again. She knew she'd been messing up since that kiss. Of course, she's not that numb and insensitive. She knew she was slowly breaking this woman apart, and she couldn't help it. She had no other choice. There was a code she had to obey, one that was supposed to make Clarke Griffin her enemy. However, she'd been lying to her all this time, and there was really no doubt that the kiss felt just as magical for her, so Lexa definitely owed an explanation to Clarke. She owed her at least one good explanation, and hopefully it would be just enough to keep the frown away from that angelic face because it was already killing the brunette to have to endure yet another misery on Clarke's being. Lexa did say that it was so frustrating to see Clarke so heartbroken, and she meant every word of it. More so, it was beyond frustrating when she knew that it was her who was making the blonde hurt this way.  
So Lexa leaned forward, until her lips were barely touching the blonde's right ear, and said in the same whispered murmur as back at the Reyes party, "We'll find another time to talk. I promise."  
She then moved back to see the content look on Clarke's face, finally. For now, that was enough. One promise meant to be fulfilled was enough to keep them both sane for the meantime.

\----------

Lincoln entered the Communication Center and immediately rolled his eyes and shook his head at the sight of Anya and Octavia seated side by side, both completely engrossed in their respective computer screens and wireless headsets.  
"I brought dinner," he announced as enticing as possible. However, only Octavia turned around to acknowledge his arrival. The tall young man raised the pizza box for the brunette to see before settling everything down on the nearby table. He grabbed a chair, placed it strategically in between his pals, and then slumped onto it.  
"Hey," he nodded his head towards the other woman regardless of the fact that Anya ignored him. "What are you doing? Why are you both working your ass off?"  
Neither responded, too focused on their screens.  
"Anya, you have to breathe you know."  
"I've got a mission to accomplish."  
Lincoln rolled his eyes once again then stood back up to prepare dinner; Octavia following him towards the table.  
"Gustus is not even here," the guy pointed out; another attempt to pull his friend into a cloud of procrastination with the rest of the crew. Nevertheless, the preoccupied IT expert did not bother to stop from working. Octavia tried talking some sense.  
"Come on, Anya, you have all the time to work when Gustus gets back. For now, it's time for all of us to mess up. That's a rule."  
"I like that rule," Lincoln paused from enjoying his pizza.  
"A rule you just made up," Anya casually argued, not caring to turn around to give a look at her teammates. It would have been a waste of time. "Not to mention, it is quite stupid and immature. We'll probably end up in the Command Room with our tails between our legs."  
Lincoln pursed his lips together realizing the truth. It wouldn't be a good situation to be in.  
"What’s up with you, Anya?" Octavia softly questioned.  
"It's about the treasure," Anya answered vaguely before letting out a deep sigh.  
"Of course, it's about the treasure. It's always been about the goddamn treasure."  
Finally, Anya stopped typing and swiftly turned her seat around so she could face her two companions. She had a knowing look on her face along with folded arms on her chest.  
"Do you know why Gustus suddenly flew to Moscow and took some of the best men from Trikru with him?"  
"Best men," Lincoln snorted. "I'm right here."  
At this, after a pause the friends shared a laugh about the claim. Lexa Woods could be the head of the 'best men', but Lincoln here was another story. He was a good fighter, but just not good enough to belong into that category.  
"They're on a treasure hunt," Octavia announced when the laughter had subsided.  
"Everybody has been on a hunt since Abby Griffin stole the treasure and hid it somewhere on the planet,"  
"Abby Griffin and her men are also on the hunt."  
Immediately Octavia and Lincoln froze in place. That couldn't be right. Why would Griffin go chasing after a treasure she herself had hidden away?  
"What?" was all Octavia could utter as she carefully put a pizza slice back into the box for a temporary delay.  
Anya nodded her head in confirmation, "Yes. Griffin herself might not know where the treasure is."  
"If she doesn't then who knows?" Lincoln asked, a little confused by the revelation. "Why has Gustus been sending us to keep an eye on the woman if she knows nothing after all?"  
"Who said about 'nothing'? Griffin knows something, that's certain. Out of all places on earth, why do you think she'd run to Moscow in particular? There are thousands of cities in the world to choose from, so how can she be so sure that she should be in Moscow and not someplace else?"  
"If it's not Griffin, who hid the treasure then?"  
Suddenly, Octavia let out a sigh and lowered her gaze briefly, hands slowly falling down to her sides.  
"Echo. It has to be Echo."  
"But... she's dead," Anya whispered as if it was some kind of an unspeakable truth.  
The other woman slowly nodded her head. The picture of her pointing the gun towards her bloody best friend was flashing through her mind again.  
"Are you saying Echo hid the treasure in Moscow?" Lincoln inquired.  
"It's _possible_. I don't know," the brunette admitted. "But I know she took a leave and went to Moscow before Griffin was kidnapped. She told me she was going to meet somebody there."  
"So?" the man shrugged his shoulders. "Where exactly do you come into the picture?"  
"One of these days, Abby Griffin is set to meet the man in Moscow. Now if Echo had given him _something_ when they met up a few months ago, it has to come either in an actual form or, you know how Echo was, computer-generated codes."  
"So that’s why I’m supposed to hack Griffin's computer. When the man gives her whatever information he has Gustus will automatically have access to it," Anya voiced out the plan in realization. "If it's in its actual form, that's when the 'best men' come into place."  
The three shared looks of realization and shock. Suddenly Lincoln spoke up.  
"We're getting closer and closer to where the treasure is. Guys, this could be it. This could be the end of this entire mission. We're about to find the treasure."  
He had a determined and hopeful look on his face. This mission will finally be over. But while he and Anya went on to start their pre-victory celebration, Octavia silently sat in her seat and resumed with eating her meal, confined within the shadows of her thoughts. She knew better. The hunt would never be over, there would always be more treasure to hunt, more people to kill, and more missions to be accomplished.

\----------

Arkadia Home was livelier, and more pristine than its usual appearance. The lone hall in the building had a dozen of round dining tables neatly arranged into place for everybody, decorated with some flowers, and a podium was set at one side of the stage. Moreover, all of the orphans were required to take good bath and to dress up appropriately for the special occasion. The famous daughter of Abby Griffin, one of the richest people in America, was coming to visit. Everything had to be prepped up. Everything should be presentable enough to make Clarke Griffin as comfortable as possible during her visit.  
While the rest of the security group were posted everywhere else, Lexa Branson stood patiently at the back where she could see the area in its entirety while her boss was too busy being praised by the Director for Special Events for her apparently 'charitable heart'. 'Charitable heart', in history, had seemed to be the term, collectively, for paying a visit, donating some of your mother's money, bringing in some books and toys for the children, and constantly flashing a sweet friendly smile to everybody. At first glance, all of this might sound like a mocking kind of a charitable heart, but Clarke's ways were as genuine as they could be. Clarke Griffin was so good at helping people, and Lexa could simply watch quietly in awe.  
The brunette could practically hear her partner's yawn and feel the boredom from the other end of the communication line. Arkadia’s Director for Special Events had been going on and on about how grateful they were for Griffin's benevolent generosity that even the little children who were settled in their respective seats were about to doze off. Times like this, one would wish they would rather be in the Command Room and be scolded by Gustus himself. At least you get to feel alive and alert before he awards you with quick and easy death, unlike this one - long and agonizing.  
" _Ugh, kill me already!_ "  
Anya pleaded, and her partner in crime only responded with an irritated sigh.  
"Now, on behalf of the entire Arkadia Home family, I present this plaque of recognition to Miss Clarke Griffin."  
Lexa required herself to initiate the clapping when the rest was pretending to be still listening. Paul quickly followed, and soon, the room erupted in applause. Even Anya was rocking some thunderous claps on her own. It wasn't because it was a nice appreciation speech, but certainly because the Director had finally stopped blabbing into the microphone.  
" _Lexa, please put a gag on him already. For the love of god._ "  
Honestly, the bodyguard would love that as well, but figured there was no need for it anymore when, after some photo-op, the Director had escorted her boss down the stage to the table set right in front to join the other important people of Arkadia. Soon enough, lunch was served, eating commenced, and so did Lexa's watch. She glued her eyes on her favorite blonde and followed her everywhere she went, never wanting to let her out of sight. If only Clarke would keep still. Instead, she would jump from one table to another checking whether everybody had enough food, spreading her charm all over the room as she amused the kids along the way. Clearly, everybody was in love with her. Everybody.  
"While everyone enjoys their meal," the Director was back on the microphone again, and Lexa could already sense that Anya was about to roll her eyes, "some of the children would like to sing a song for all and most especially for our lovely guest."  
" _Just get him of the microphone._ "  
A group of kids, climbed up onto the stage and stood in their prepared places. One with an acoustic guitar had a chair for herself while another took on the microphone presumably to sing the lead. The Director presented them again to the audience and Clarke immediately clapped her hands together in enthusiasm and encouragement; the rest happily following her lead.  
“ _I been trying to do it right,_  
_I been living a lonely life,_  
_I been sleepin' here instead,_  
_I been sleepin' in my bed,_  
_Sleepin' in my bed._ ”  
The audience offered another mid-applause along with Anya's positive remark.  
" _Finally, something worth listening to._ "  
“ _So show me family,_  
_All the blood that I will bleed,_  
_I don't know where I belong,_  
_I don't know where I went wrong,_  
_I can write a song._ ”  
But Lexa was left in her own world. It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying the performance, but she'd rather watch the incredibly blissful look on Clarke's face without worrying that somebody would catch her. While everybody was busy being entertained, it was indeed a perfect moment – one perfect stolen moment to take a break for a little while, and just immerse into the loving feeling that just wonuldn’t go away.  
“ _I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart,_  
_I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart._ ”  
Clarke felt a pair of eyes staring directly at her. She paused for a moment then turned to meet those eyes, those dark emerald eyes. And there she was staring back at her safe haven once again.  
“ _I don't think you're right for him,_  
_Think of what it might have been if we,_  
_Took a bus to Chinatown,_  
_I'd be standin' on canal and Bowery,_  
_She'd be standin' next to me._ ”  
Everybody was listening attentively to the group. Lexa wondered if people would actually notice if she were to walk to Clarke in this moment. Ten? Twelve? Fourteen fast steps of her legs would probably take her there. If she decided to pull her close and steal another one sweet kiss, would the rest of the crowd pay them any attention?  
“ _I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart,_  
_I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart._ ”  
Something told the brunette that in most probability the blonde had the same thought as her.  
“ _Love, we need it now,_  
_Let's hope for some,_  
_'Cause oh, we're bleedin' out._ ”  
Love. If it wasn't, then everything else in the universe would be a big fat lie. No words of endearment, no words to confirm, but not even one word in the form of 'nothing' could prove its non-existence because whether they like it or not, it's love. It was already love, and it wasn’t going away anytime soon.  
“ _I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart,_  
_I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart._ ”  
The song ended signalling the end of what could have been two minutes of a perfect moment. But since it was already one lost opportunity, Lexa Branson put on her armor once again by looking away. So Clarke did the same.  
"Psst."  
The bodyguard heard a whispering sound and felt a hand tugging her leather jacket all at once. With this kind of non-threatening environment where there were only children and boring people everywhere, instinct suggested to ignore the sudden discomfort. However, the tugging continued compelling the brunette to lower her gaze and find a boy standing next to her.  
"Hey you," a little boy with a jet-black hair was staring up at her scornful eyes as he spoke.  
" _Is that a kid? It sounds like a kid._ "  
This child was not worth her time, she decided, so the brunette looked straight ahead again, ignoring the presence of the adorable little boy. His face contorted in ferocity, not happy at all by Lexa's choice of action.  
"Psst," he repeated to call her attention once again. This time, he was more eager.  
" _Please tell me you're not ignoring the kid._ "  
Lexa let out a huff, and Anya knew the meaning of it. She was intentionally trying to ignore the kid. So when the bodyguard didn't give any more response, the kid went on tugging her jacket until she just couldn't take it anymore.  
"What the fuck do you want?" she quietly hissed at the little boy.  
" _Oh my god, Lexa, you did not just use the F word on him!_ "  
"You said a bad word," he pointed out the obvious in his slow, lethargic, adorable, cute little voice. "I'm not supposed to hear it or say it."  
"Well, you're not going to be a kid forever. You're going to hear it a lot, say it a lot, do it a lot when you grow up, so you better fucking get used to it now."  
" _You are a terrible person! Has anyone ever told you that?_ "  
The little boy looked beyond surprised, his eyes and mouth left wide open. Worse for Lexa though, he wasn't walking away.  
"What the fuck do you want from me?" she had to ask again.  
" _God, just stop it!_ "  
In response, the kid looked up to her with angry eyes and motioned her to lower her body down which she eventually did. Just get this over with.  
"Wait here," he whispered into her ear with the right element of confidentiality before running away leaving Lexa knelt down on the floor to wait as instructed. A few more seconds, and he was back with a full pitcher of orange juice he was struggling to hold with both hands. "I was going to ask you a question. But now you must be thirsty."  
" _See? He's a sweet little boy._ "  
Without warning, the sweet little boy raised the pitcher and poured all of its contents over Lexa's head; the orange juice soaking her hair and dripping down her face onto her neck, her black leather jacket, and who knew where else. Lexa Woods spent her entire childhood loathing the kids in school and the kids in the neighborhood for making fun of her all the time. She'd always hated a list of children for it, but this little rat right here just made it on top of her list especially with that cheeky grin on his face.  
Zap.  
Lexa and the little boy rapidly jumped away at the zapping sound of an electric shock and a momentary burst of electric spark just below the brunette's face. Anya's voice supposedly blasting through the earpiece was not heard. The bodyguard immediately looked down to check the tiny microphone attached to her jacket, and then threw a death glare at the kid. Apparently, the hidden communication device was not made to withstand a pitcher of orange juice. Add that to Lexa's list of reasons why she should just strangle this little rat to death.

\----------

It was past lunch time when Octavia finally decided it was time to get some sleep. After all, she'd been working too hard to prepare for the most anticipated mission already. She had helped Anya finally hack Griffin’s system and set everything in place. All that was missing was a go signal from Moscow. For the meantime, the only choice was to wait, and she could definitely do that while catching some good rest. She entered her room and sloppily closed the door behind her massaging the back of her head to give it ease. In the process, she missed the presence of the tall young man quietly leaning his back on the wall, waiting for Octavia since the daylight came.  
"Overtime?"  
Surprised, the IT expert turned her head around to see her guest.  
"Lincoln, what are you doing here?”  
The other casually shrugged his shoulders, "I need to talk to you."  
"About...?"  
"I'm sorry Octavia. I’m just curious... about which side you're really on."  
In an instant, Octavia became fidgety, discomforted by the question. "Fidelity to Trikru. You know this."  
Lincoln scoffed.  
"I'm working my ass off for Trikru," the other spoke again, careful not to sound too defensive. "Gustus gives me missions, and I try my very best to accomplish them all."  
"So what about Echo then? What about your best friend? How can you work for the man who made you kill your best friend?"  
"...Fidelity to Trikru."  
"It's just the two of us here, Octavia."  
"Fidelity!"  
Lincoln made a pause, disappointed. For a brief moment, he watched the woman struggle to pretend like she wasn't so eager to quiver in fear, afraid to be exposed.  
"What happened to not letting her death go in vain, Octavia?"  
"It's still on," Octavia quietly answered.  
"So why are you doing this?" questioned the guy. "Why are you helping Gustus find the treasure Echo stole and hid away from Trikru? I don't know what your plan is, but I know she didn't want us to find it."  
Octavia let out a deep sigh. There was no way of getting out of this trap anymore.  
"Sooner or later, Gustus will find the treasure. I don't know what it is, but Echo surely had a reason for stealing it away from Trikru. For now, Gustus seems to have the best intention - put it to use for the benefit of the needy. But there must be a catch. Otherwise, we would still have Abby Griffin on our side."  
"You're going to steal it afterwards," Lincoln suddenly supposed.  
The IT expert shrugged her shoulders, uncertain.  
"I can't fight until I figure out what I'm fighting against."  
A silence fell on the room. Octavia knew she was a potential traitor here, so she waited and waited until a verdict could be made, a verdict she had long known to be. In contrary though, Lincoln simply nodded his head in understanding and turned towards the door.  
"You're supposed to kill me," the girl hurried to tell her guest. "Turn me in at least."  
"No. I only hurt those who deserve it. You're my friend, Octavia, there’s no way in hell I would ever-"  
"I'm about to betray Gustus."  
Lincoln chuckled briefly at the argument.  
"He's never meant much to me anyway."  
"Fine, then Trikru."  
"I told you I'm not sworn to the code."  
"So now what?"  
The young man sighed at the inquiry and finally decided to turn around to face his friend, a reassuring smile fixed on his lips.  
"From now on, we are sworn to a new code, and that is to protect each other - me, and you, and Lexa, and Anya. I know it's no organisation, but it's friendship… The four of us could be a… I don't know, a family."  
For a moment, Octavia didn't make any reaction. What they were doing, talking, planning about was an act of treason, and far too dangerous if it could ever reach somebody else's ears. Death could be waiting for them for it. But even so, she eventually smiled and nodded her head in agreement. She wasn't alone on this side of the game after all. That's what mattered.

\----------

 _I'll ask Lincoln to deliver a new set of communication devices. Gustus cannot know about this, or we're both dead. Just stay put for the meantime. I'm going to create a fake recording, and this will be our little secret._  
Lexa read the encrypted message from her partner in crime before shoving her phone back into her pocket. After, she returned another death glare to the little boy, her new nemesis, seated across her at the Chief Directress' office lounge. And the fact that Clarke was bent down trying to cheer him up only intensified the brunette's hatred for the tiny evil creature.  
"Miss Griffin?" the Director for Special Events called out from the door. "Please do come in."  
Clarke nodded her head along with her usual friendly smile. She stood up and extended a hand towards the boy, who excitedly took it and then jumped off his seat as well. The blonde threw a look at Lexa before proceeding into the office with the evil creature. How did he get to be treated like some kind of a helpless victim when she was the one who took a bath of a full pitcher of orange juice? The bodyguard reluctantly followed them into the office.  
"Welcome to Arkadia, Miss Griffin," the Chief Directress greeted as she shook the blonde's hand. "I'm sorry I had to miss the first half of the festivities. There was an urgent matter I had to attend to. But we are indeed very grateful for your visit. I heard the children truly enjoy your presence."  
Lexa suddenly froze into place. That voice and that face, she knew them too well. Dark brown locks, her pair of eyes with the same shade of dark green, thin lips curved into a smile – they were exactly how they looked in her dreams, those dreams that had been haunting her all these years. But it wasn’t possible.  
"Please call me 'Clarke', and I can't believe I've only heard about your institution recently," Clarke answered honestly, completely oblivious of what was happening. "The children are amazing, and it's certainly my pleasure to be here…"  
Her voice trailed off. She didn't know her name.  
"Veronica," the Chief Directress supplied. "Veronica Grant."  
It's her. It's really her. She hasn’t even changed her name.  
"And I heard we have a little fuss here," Veronica Grant turned to the little boy. "I'm sure little Maverick didn't mean what he did. What do you say, Maverick?"  
Maverick looked down towards his shoes to avoid those eyes and spoke quietly, "I'm sorry."  
This should have been the part where Lexa should have answered 'apology doesn't bring back the dead' but was too stunned to move or utter something.  
"No," Clarke came to his rescue. "He's just a kid. My bodyguard probably did something to provoke him, but I'm sure it won't happen again, Veronica. Is that right, Lexa?"  
Clarke turned to her bodyguard with a coercive look. However, Lexa wasn't even listening anymore. She was just staring. Her heart suddenly stopped and her breath caught in her throat when Veronica Grant ultimately directed her eyes towards her. It suddenly felt like looking through a ghost. This woman shouldn’t be alive. But she was real.  
"She has this bulletproof character she thinks she has to maintain," the blonde spoke again when the brunette rudely didn't bother to give any response as usual. "Cute little Maverick here just proved that she's not waterproof though. Such a brave little warrior."  
The blonde winked at the little boy who let out a chuckle along with a blush at the compliment and complete adoration.  
"It's alright," Veronica answered as she kept a blank stare on Lexa who still couldn't move from her shock. "I understand. I'm some kind of a bulletproof, too, myself."  
Lexa stared at the extended hand waiting to be shook. Thank god, Clarke nudged her, and forced her to move her hand. Skin to skin. It was then that she realized that Veronica Grant was indeed _alive_. Her mother was alive, and she was holding her warm hand again since that night Lexa had supposedly shot her to death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another plot twist ;)


	14. Liars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh i've been gone for a few weeks but hi, I'm back with another great chapter :)

# 14\. Liars

Paul and the rest of the men in black suits assisted their blonde boss in facilitating a series of games for the children while her personal bodyguard stood in a corner all by herself. To be fair, she did get a shower of a full pitcher of orange juice so everybody was content to leave her alone and just let her be. Adorable little Maverick, on the other hand, bravely marched towards his old nemesis and stood next to her. Lexa threw him a death glare, exactly like the one he offered her as well – certainly some kind of a mutual understanding. She took a deep breath as she desperately stretched the length of her incredibly short patience, then folded her arms over her chest. Coincidentally, not that he was purposely trying to mock her, Maverick did the exact same thing at the exact same time. They both exchanged disgusted looks at how they seemed too alike, as if one was a shadow cast by the other. The brunette immediately dropped her hands to her sides, balled her fists, and gritted her teeth to contain the burning anger within.  
"Hey, I said I was sorry."  
Maverick was looking up at the horrible monster, his voice soft and his eyes appeared winsome without even meaning to. Still, Lexa Branson had found some stupid reason to disregard his undeniable cuteness.  
"Apology doesn't bring back the dead," she coldly replied.  
He paused for a considerable time trying to process what the sentence meant. But nope, it didn't make any sense to the little kid, so he resorted back to his old trick and started tugging Lexa's pants once again.  
"Lexy," he called out innocently in a plea.  
"My… name… is… _Lexa_ ," she firmly stated. Of course, every word was equipped with an essential amount of rage. "And quit bugging me, dickhead."  
"Hey!" complained the little boy. "I can fetch another pitcher if you want. Orange? Grape? Milk? Your choice."  
"Play another trick on me, and I'll punch you so hard that all of your teeth will surely fall out from your gums."  
"You called me-" he stopped himself immediately when he realized he wasn't supposed to say it. "…that word you've been calling me!"  
"That's because you are a dickhead."  
The brunette waited, but no counterattack came from the tiny evil creature. Instead, a sniffing sound reached her ears. Lexa shifted her eyes to look at him and saw tears already threatening to leave his puppy dog eyes any minute. She didn't care though.  
"What? You're going to cry now?" she interrogated, and then scoffed when his lips started to quiver. "I called you a dickhead and so you cry? Is that how it is, 'brave little warrior'?"  
Although she wasn't entirely listening then, the compliment quite stayed in her sub-consciousness to be remembered. Okay, so Lexa had not gotten over the fact that Clarke was clearly smitten by this little rat yet, and it didn't help at all when the poor kid responded by putting on a courageous scowl on his face.  
"Oh so that's your thing, some sort of a super weapon, huh? You pour liquid over people's heads, and if that doesn't work out, you start crying. Is that all you can do? Yeah… how nice."  
"I hate you," he mumbled.  
"And now I'm _trembling_ ," she told him annoyingly sarcastic. "Trembling in so much fear because some tiny dickhead hates me."  
Little Maverick pulled his scowling face away and folded his arms together once again.  
"Just wait and see," he threatened, but failed to shake Lexa's walls anyway. "I'm going to grow taller than you'll ever be it will be really easy to stamp on you with a single foot."  
"Just make sure I haven't tossed you into shark-infested water yet by then. I'm sure that's more realistic and more painful for you. More fun for me though."  
The kid bit his lower lip to fight the tears from slipping down, determined to show the horrible monster that he was tough and not as weak as she thought he was. The silence that followed, Lexa had greatly appreciated. Consequently, it had been decided that she would never speak to this tiny evil creature ever again.  
"You asked what I wanted," he muttered, from out of the blue, bravely looking up at Lexa once more. "And I never got the chance to tell you."  
Lexa didn't respond, not even look. No more speaking, remember? She was standing in the corner just all by herself and nobody else.  
"I thought we could be friends," finally confessed little Maverick. "I saw that you were all alone, so I thought I could be your friend."  
The horrible monster had to back down for that. Did he just say what she thought he said? Friends? Oh boy, little Maverick just did the unthinkable. Nobody had ever asked Lexa to be their friend. Well, except for Raven Reyes, but it was all because of a jerk named Bellamy Jacobs; it was never intentional on either side. Lincoln was like her brother; Anya and Octavia were her teammates; so they were bound to be her friends. Costia had always been the fuck buddy and nothing else. No, technically not even super friendly Clarke Griffin had ever asked her to be a friend. But adorable Maverick here just asked her to be a friend, because he saw her standing alone. So fuck swearing not to talk to him ever again.  
"Are you some sort of a loner here, di-" Lexa stopped herself when she was about to say it again. Fine, she had to at least try to put some effort, too. "Are you some sort of a loner here, kid?"  
The kid shook his head immediately, "No. I have lots of friends. There's Zack, and Rory, and Felipe, and Tau, and Lola, and Padma-"  
"I get it," she cut him off, annoyed by the fact that this tiny young person had more friends than she ever had or possibly would ever have. "You have tons of friends. I get it."  
"One of them thinks you are a bad person," he shared the information truthfully. Kids and their innocent mouths.  
"Maybe your friend is right."  
Maverick shook his head again, "I don't think you are a bad person."  
"I've been calling you a dickhead since we've met."  
And a terrible scowl was back on his face with folded arms, pouty lips, and squinted eyes to match the I-really-really-hate-you look he was going for. It was pretty convincing if you ask Lexa. And just like that little Maverick appeared to be a miniature version of Clarke Griffin, whenever you don't bother to laugh at her extremely corny jokes. Great, there wasn't just one single person who could get Lexa out of character; there were now two of them.  
The bodyguard looked down at the kid and sighed. When he looked up to briefly, she turned her entire body and bent her knees down to level his height. She held his shoulders in a gentle grip and made him face her although he opted to look away.  
"Look, I… I, uh…" she paused for a little while to let herself breathe. How many times did she have to remind everyone that she's not good at comforting people? And, frankly, she had never done before what she was about to do here. "I'm sorry."  
There. She said it. Fuck 'apology doesn't bring back the dead'. Veronica Grant turned out to be alive after all. It's like all this time she was living a fucking lie.  
"I know I've been an ass-" Lexa made a halt when the kid gave her a look. Fine. "I've been nothing but _mean_ to you all this time, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for calling you… that word I’ve been calling you. You are not a… that. You are a… well, brave little warrior."  
Everybody happy? Take it or leave it, but that's just how far Lexa Branson could extend her good side. Fortunately, Maverick was satisfied by the sudden 180-degree turn of her personality. He finally met her eyes, and the scowl was quickly replaced by a smug smile.  
"I told you," he said. "You are not a bad person, Lexy."  
"Lexa," she muttered under her breath for correction.  
"Hey, Maverick," someone called out.  
Lexa and Maverick both turned their heads to see Clarke who was sandwiched by the other children smiling at the duo.  
"We're about to play a game, and I need a partner for it. Would you like to do the honor?"  
The young boy nodded his head excitedly as a response before looking back to his new friend.  
"I really want to play, and Clarke is really pretty," he told the brunette, not even trying to hide the blush growing on his cheeks. "She just might want to be my girlfriend if we win this game."  
Without waiting for a response, he hurriedly ran to the group to join their activities leaving Lexa on her own. She knew it. This kid had his own private agenda. She stood back up to her feet and watched them play their silly little game. Clarke and Maverick were holding on too close to each other the whole time, Lexa noticed. Okay, so she was able to finally get rid of Bellamy, but she's competing against this little rat this next round. Frankly, this one was a bigger threat. He already got more hugs and more kisses than necessary. But he's harmless, she decided. He's her friend who made her explicitly apologize. Indeed, such a brave little warrior.  
As if Clarke had just read Lexa's mind, the blonde glanced at her bodyguard and winked at her followed by her ever charming smile. Was it ' _oh don't be so jealous_ ' or ' _I saw you being nice and your secret is safe with me_ '? Lexa wasn't sure what the look meant exactly, but it wasn't just nothing, that was for sure.  
"So how does it feel to be standing in a room full of actually happy people for once?"  
Lexa didn't need to turn to her side to look at who was trying to keep her company this time.  
"Alright," Veronica huffed then fixed her eyes on the joyful crowd when her daughter did not care to respond. "Apparently, you're still the least friendly one here."  
"What are you doing here?" questioned the other.  
"I work here," the Chief Directress answered casually. "What are you doing?"  
"You know that's not what I meant."  
"What do you mean then? What am I doing here _alive_ when I should be floating dead somewhere in the ocean? Is that it?"  
"I killed you," Lexa said as quietly as possible. Nobody else should hear it. Nobody else should know. She'd never expected it, but suddenly, she was thankful that Maverick poured that full pitcher of orange juice on her and ruined the communication device. Gustus should not be informed about this _miracle_.  
Her mother simply shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips together. How do you respond to that kind of a statement?  
"And you haven't apologized for it yet."  
The younger brunette let out a heavy sigh, and still not turning to look at her mother, muttered, "I'm sorry."  
After a tense pause, Veronica flashed a smile at her killer. "It’s alright. You were thirteen and you were listening to _him_. I'm alive now anyway. All is well, I guess... So how have you been, Lexa?"  
"I’ve never used a gun again after that night."  
That could explain the love for knives.  
The older woman nodded her head half-heartedly, "That's good… I think. And Lincoln?"  
"He's alive."  
Veronica let out a sigh of relief and wore a sad smile.  
"So how did you survive?" Lexa asked curiously. "I'm sure I shot you dead. Even Gustus agrees."  
Her mother chuckled disbelievingly as if the past was some kind of a hilarious joke.  
"Yes, the bullets went right through my chest. In fact, I still have the scars. And yes, I fell off the bridge into the water. It was a hard fall, really… but I guess I had to live. I had to live for you."  
Then the subject was no more a joke. Years had passed since the last time their family was all together, and no matter how long it took, time just couldn't blur the tragic scene in mind. Veronica was running as fast as she could under the pouring rain until she was cornered at a bridge. Thirteen-year old Lexa held a gun to her mother with Gustus standing right beside her for supervision. Veronica could only move back until the rails signified that it was the end. She closed her eyes and braced for the expected. At the signal, Lexa fired the gun while a young Lincoln screamed at her, begged her not to do it, but it was too late. The older woman’s wounded body was already falling into the river.  
"I would have hugged you earlier," Lexa admitted, not feeling the need to pretend in front of the person who brought her to life. "But I just couldn't. Not just yet."  
"I forgave you even before you pulled the trigger, Lexa." The younger brunette finally turned to look at her mother and nodded her head appreciatively. It had to be enough for the meantime. "So… working for the rich and famous Clarke Griffin, huh? How did you go from working for Gustus to protecting her? What happened to 'Fidelity to Trikru'?"  
The bodyguard did not respond.  
"You killed your mother to join the organisation. It took one beautiful young woman to make you leave?"  
Veronica smirked as she raised her eyebrows. Her daughter, however, remained silent.  
"Well, she seems to be worth a hundred missions…"  
Her voice trailed off as she slowly tried to make sense of the situation. Trikru wouldn't just let their best and most loyal member leave and stay out in the open.  
"You're on a mission," the Chief Directress finally realized. The amusement immediately disappeared from her face, clearly disappointed and disapproving. Lexa sighed helplessly to confirm the idea. It was conversations like this one that made Veronica Grant an enemy. "What did Gustus ask you to do? Steal from her? Kill her? What?"  
The best doesn't just disclose mission details to outsiders.  
"I'm still your mother, Lexa. And it's still my right to tell you what I think about the things you do. You may or may not agree with me, but this mission is completely wrong."  
But her daughter's job was to accomplish the mission.  
"Look at her," her mother demanded. "Look at the children. Look at Clarke Griffin and what she does for them… then, tell me if your precious Trikru is still worth more than her."  
And Lexa did as she was told. She looked at Clarke Griffin as the blonde played the guitar while the kids sang along with her.  
She saw it. She saw what her mother wanted her to see. She saw Clarke and she saw every fucking reason to just end the mission unaccomplished and leave everything behind. But it was never that simple and easy. And so, keeping her head up and her face like a blank canvas, Lexa looked like her old self – the callous young Phoenix who knew nothing but serving Trikru.  
"Fidelity to Trikru," she carefully declared her allegiance.  
Veronica closed her eyes briefly as she sighed, shook her head in dismay and told her estranged daughter, "Put a little love, Lexa. For once, just put a little love in your heart."  
With that, the Chief Directress gave her one last condemning look, then walked away. Her daughter needed not to pull a trigger this time to push her away. One ill-fated decision was more than enough. Lexa wasn’t a thirteen-year old child anymore.

\----------

Five minutes. It had been five minutes since Abigail Griffin sat down on a seat by the clear window of the café where Gustus Woods and the rest of the group could see her. Kane sat at the next table, alert, waiting and waiting restlessly for a cue. Two minutes more and finally, the man they were all awaiting walked into the building. He was wearing a brown jacket on top of a white shirt and brought nothing else but presumably only with a gun hidden somewhere. All eyes were on him, following his every step as he traveled from the door to the table by the window.  
"It's nice to see you, Madam Griffin," he spoke; his voice was husky and adorned with a thick Russian accent.  
"Viktor," the woman in an expensive dress greeted back. She waved at the girl at the counter who immediately served a cup of coffee for her guest. "Have a drink."  
Viktor laughed at the offer, but took a sip anyway.  
"Must enjoy my last cup of coffee, I guess."  
His company did not say a word.  
"They're watching us right now, aren't they?"  
Abby remorsefully nodded her head. Death in the form of Trikru was indeed watching them.  
"Are you ready?" she asked the younger man.  
"To die?" the Russian casually shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I mean, is there a way to prepare for it? I've always thought if you die, then you die. That's just it."  
"I'm sorry."  
Again, Viktor laughed. Maybe when you're about to die everything just becomes too funny.  
"Echo was right," he said. "You are a good woman, Griffin. Actually, you're too good to be in this mess. I don't have a family to mourn over me when I die anyway, but you have a daughter. So let's just say my life is a little sacrifice."  
The older woman wore a small smile of appreciation.  
"What you need is in my house," informed Viktor after taking another drink of his coffee. "Living room, next to the TV. Single button."  
Abby simply nodded her head again.  
"In a few minutes, I'm going to die for you. I suppose you can do me one last favor, Madam Griffin."  
"Of course."  
"Do you know where the treasure is?"  
Suddenly, it was Abby's turn to laugh. She sipped her own cup of coffee during a pause, then fixed an eye on the young man and slowly shook her head, "I'm afraid there is no treasure, Viktor."  
Viktor let out a chuckle. _There is no treasure_. Perfect reason to die.  
"Now open your laptop," she ordered. "Our guests have been waiting for far too long already. Let's start the show."  
It took another two minutes for Viktor to finally empty his cup of coffee. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pulled a memory card out from his jacket's breast pocket.  
"Here it is," he purposely let everybody see the item before handing it over willingly to the rich woman. "That should keep them busy away from you as planned."  
Abby inserted the memory card to download the only file on it. It would take thirty seconds to download according to the laptop screen, and as time passed by, everybody was growing more and more anxious.  
"Anything you want me to say to Echo?" asked Viktor.  
Fifteen seconds remaining. The other stared at the young man for some time then sighed.  
"Tell her I understand."  
The Russian nodded his head and smiled, "Okay. Good luck, Mr. Griffin. You're on your own now."  
Five, four, three, two, one. File downloaded. Gun fires immediately echoed in the air, and the entire street was set into commotion. Viktor fell to the ground after a bullet collided into his head. He was dead. He didn't even have the opportunity to retrieve the gun he brought for the occasion. Meanwhile, Abby hurriedly grabbed the laptop to complete their planned deception as Kane ran in to rescue her. It was the perfect cue. The bodyguard fired back without bothering to aim at their perfectly covered enemies as he escorted his boss to their planned exit route. However, the bullets kept flying over towards them. Trikru mercilessly didn't stop firing away, not even after one, then two, then three bullets hit the woman's back causing her to bleed alarmingly until she fell barely conscious down to the floor.  
"Abby!" Kane exclaimed while desperately trying to help his boss up. "We have to get out of here now!"  
Abby raised her shaky hand to hold a grip of the other's clothes and struggled to whisper into the bodyguard's ear, "H-House… TV… r-remote."  
"But madam!"  
The blonde was wordless, only unsteady breathing was coming out of her airway. A backup team came to aid, but she was already about to shut her eyes and fall into unconsciousness. That was never part of their plan.

\----------

"You need help?"  
Sat outside in the sun, Clarke turned to the source of the voice to see her bodyguard's typical blank stare directed towards her. She was in the middle of hand-writing letters to the children she visited earlier at Sky Daycare but was suddenly very aware that it was just the two of them in the garden – just her and Lexa.  
"Well…" Clarke's voice trailed off, unsure of what to say. This was new. Not the normal kind of bodyguard duty they were both used to, and Lexa Branson was actually trying to volunteer herself. So the young woman scanned the table for anything. "Raven was supposed to help me with… the envelopes. You know, just writing a name on each, fold the letters, put it in, and then seal the envelopes."  
"I can do that," Lexa stated as she slowly approached the seat recently vacated by Raven.  
" _Do you ever ask if I need help?_ "  
The brunette let out a long huff, deliberately dodging her partner in crime's rhetorical question. Her boss handed out the list of the kids' names and a pack of colorful envelopes.  
"Start with the labeling," the blonde instructed. "Just to make sure we don't forget anyone."  
Lexa nodded her head positively then sighed once more. Writing. Just writing. How hard could that be? She took one envelope – yellow, her old nemesis – picked up a pen then checked the list of names. First one was a girl named Alice. Five-letter name, it should be easy. So, nervously, she guided the pen on the surface of the envelope to form the letters.  
Twelve seconds. It took her twelve seconds to write the name Alice. She stared at it for a moment more and grimaced at her handwriting. It was crap. Clarke glanced at Lexa's recent achievement if you could call it that. Yeah, the handwriting was definitely crap.  
"You're doing great, Branson," she grinned at the brunette. For the record, it wasn't sarcastic.  
" _I know what your handwriting looks like, Woods. It's official. She is the worst liar in the world._ "  
Lexa didn't care about Anya's opinion though. Clarke might have been the worst liar, but at least she knew how to make someone feel better. So the brunette murmured a little word of gratitude for the encouragement and went on with her work.  
Halfway through, two maids came to bring snacks. No matter how Clarke tried, her bodyguard just wouldn't take a break. Surprisingly, even for Anya, Lexa was truly enjoying her new found passion for lettering, and the blonde couldn't help but smile at her favorite quiet cricket, at every stolen glance.  
"… 78… 79… 80!" Clarke exclaimed in excitement after doing the final count. 80 letters neatly placed in 80 colorful envelopes for 80 adorable kids. Through the happily satisfied smile on her lips, an exhausted huff escaped her mouth as she leaned back to her chair, and suddenly, she felt a pair of dark green eyes staring at her attentively. "Thank you for helping me, but stop staring, Branson."  
"Ooh. So you're staring at her, eh?"  
Lexa ignored the teasing coming out of the earpiece and started writing on a piece of paper. Seemed like she wouldn't stop writing already. A little confused, Clarke received the paper and read it. She giggled at the crappy looking handwriting much to the other's annoyance.  
 _I THOUGHT WE COULD TALK WHILE I PRACTICE MY HANDWRITING_ , the brunette wrote. This might be the only opportunity to fulfill her promise.  
The blonde eagerly picked up a pink pen to write her response.  
 _I THOUGHT IT CAN'T GET ANY WORSE, CRICKET._  
Lexa quickly ran her eyes through the note and scoffed. The other giggled once again at the reaction.  
 _ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ASK ME?_  
The amusement on Clarke's face gradually disappeared upon reading. She looked at the woman seated across the table who simply stared back at her. Ask Lexa? There were so many things the blonde wanted to ask Lexa and this little piece of paper offered inadequate amount of space for all of them.  
 _WHY DID YOU KISS ME, LEXA?_  
Undeniably, two hearts were beating so fast while the brunette read it and wrote a response. Afterwards, she couldn't meet Clarke's eyes anymore.  
 _IT'S MY JOB TO STOP YOU FROM GETTING HURT._  
But the truth was Lexa was helplessly hurting the blonde with that one simple sentence. There came the emphasis on job compliance once again – unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of answer Clarke was hoping for.  
 _THEN IT'S ALSO YOUR JOB TO TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL ABOUT IT._  
The bodyguard let out a sigh. What would she say?  
 _NOTHING._  
And that was it. Clarke could hear the sound of her heart shattering into pieces once more. It's that fucking word again. Really, it's funny and frustrating at the same time how that one single word could mean so much and could hurt all the more.  
"Paul is looking for me," Lexa lied to get away from the unstoppable growing awkwardness between them. She couldn't face it – not like this with repressed feelings scribbled in notes and with a scrutinizing recording device that the other wasn't even aware of.  
" _No, he's not. I didn't get a message. What are you talking about?_ "  
The brunette purposely ignored the dissent from her partner in crime and vacated her seat to leave as soon as her boss nodded her head along with a forced weak smile. She knew the blonde was forcing it, seeing tears well up in her eyes, looking so sad and broken. Fuck. How many times did Lexa have to remind herself to avoid eye contact with Clarke? Brace for a horrible monster out of character.  
"Next time I give you that for an answer, I want you to remember that I'm a liar."  
Of course, Anya started launching confused questions, but Lexa was already too busy staring back at her favorite blonde who just had her entire world turned upside down. Lexa's lips slowly curved into a surprisingly successful small smile, and Clarke could only chuckle through her joyful tears at the extremely unusual sight. That was the day the word 'nothing' meant so much more than it was intended to be. And maybe, just maybe, that was the day they realized they were about to begin one crazy romantic love story… and there was no more turning back.


End file.
